Little Messages
by MysticFirefly
Summary: Sakura has to endure a horrible fate: summer school. Writing on a desk may prevent boredom but who expects anyone to write back?
1. Upon A Desk

**_A/N:_** This idea came from a real life experience from my best friend Allison. It's my first AU fic so I'm going to try my best. SasuSaku

"_Thoughts" _"Speech" **"Writing"**

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 1: Upon a Desk

Haruno Sakura sat in agony as the clock ticked away at her life. She wondered of all the horrible places she could be in why she was put in the worst place of all. Why did the forces above choose to torment her so harshly? What had she done to deserve this? Slowly, the reason why she was in this wretched place came to her mind. _"I didn't pass Algebra."_

It was only the summer after tenth grade and Sakura _knew_ that summer school had to be the most awful punishment any teenager could experience. Summer was a time when people should be laughing and being free from the confines of school. The fact she had to be at the one place she couldn't stand more than anything during her three months of freedom was very frustrating. It was only the sixth day and she still had four weeks to go. What made it even worse was that the teacher she was stuck with had the most boring voice to listen to. His name was Hatake Kakashi.

Sakura sat not bothering to listen to Kakashi. There was no point because she would never understand Algebra. It was a pass or fail class so all she had to do was keep doing her homework and she'd pass. Her parents would murder her if she failed. There were two sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. She thought taking the morning class would give her more free time the rest of the day, but she thought wrong. Class was at an ungodly hour of the morning and she usually spent the rest of the day trying to do the pile of homework she received. To make things worse, everyone she knew happened to be in the second session.

Sakura fiddled with her pencil and stared outside the window. She found staring at the clock drove her mad so staring out the window became her next best option. She noticed some cars pass by and a couple walking down the street hand in hand._ "If I wasn't in this living hell I could find myself a boyfriend. I have to get one before Ino does." _Sakura became lost in thought and started to tap her pencil very loudly on the edge of her desk. She didn't notice the pairs of eyes staring at her or her sensei walking over.

"Ms. Haruno?" Kakashi asked.

Sakura didn't answer.

"Ms. Haruno?" he asked a little louder.

Sakura still did not reply.

"Sakura!" shouted Kakashi.

Sakura flinched and looked up at her sensei. "I'm sorry Kakshi-sensei."

"Would you like to share with the class why you were making such a commotion?"

"No thank you."

"Good, then I suggest you start paying attention. May I teach my class now?" he said in a very calm voice.

"Yes sensei." said Sakura. She hated when he spoke like that. It really freaked her out.

"Fantastic," said Kakashi as he walked back to the front of the class.

"_God I am such a loser. Wait, no I'm not. When is this class over?" _Sakura looked at the clock. She still had two more hours of class. _"Two hours! What am I supposed to do until then? Pay attention?"_ Sakura took her pencil and looked down at her desk. The wood surface gleamed back at her. She tapped her pencil twice and then began to write.

**I hate this class. It's so boring. Kakashi-sensei is a white haired freak!**

She stared at what she had written and decided to leave it there. It's not like he'd come check to see what people had written on desks.

Sakura quickly became bored with tapping her pencil and staring out the window. She was tempted to actually pay attention but that feeling quickly passed. She didn't know many people in the class but she had never bothered to look at anyone else either. She noticed the boy next to her sitting upright and looking straight at the front of the room. At least she thought he was looking in that direction. He had dark sunglasses on and a hood on his head. She thought his name was Aburame Shino but she wasn't sure.

"_Gosh this guy is creepy. Why is he wearing sunglasses in class? He looks really uptight. Doesn't talk much either. I wonder if he's in a gang or something. No, he's too quiet to be part of a gang. Maybe he's part of a family of spies."_ Shino turned his head to look at Sakura. It was at this time she realized she was staring at him. Not knowing what to do she made a peace sign and turned around in her seat. _"Wow that was close."_

The hours gradually ticked by and soon it was time for Sakura to go home. She wasn't in any sports and didn't have any camps to go to so her agenda was pretty straightforward. She would eat some lunch, do her homework, take a shower, and then go to sleep. Maybe she could fit in talking with her friends. She really couldn't do much for the five weeks that were summer school even if she did only have four weeks left. Afterward she would party like there was no tomorrow but for now, work came first.

When Sakura got home she made a sandwich and went to her room to start her homework. She pulled out the five-page packet from her math folder and stared at the front page. _"How am I supposed to finish this? There are almost fifty problems on each page! Oh well, better start now."_ Sakura ate her sandwich and worked on her packet. She found it very hard to pay attention, but she knew if she didn't work now it would never get done. It was bad enough she didn't pay attention in class.

It was already dinnertime and Sakura still had a whole page and a half to do. She decided to take a break and call Ino. She dialed the number into her phone and listened to the ring tone. Unfortunately, Ino didn't answer and Sakura really didn't feel like speaking to anyone else. Even though she and Ino argued over everything they were really close friends. Arguing just made them closer.

Sakura's mind started to wander now that it was done working. She started to think of her other friends at school. She thought of her other teachers during the year. Then her mind began to think of a certain young man. Uchiha Sasuke was his name. He wasn't a straight A student but he was very talented athletically. This and the fact that he was the best looking guy at school with his jet black hair and onyx eyes made him extremely popular with lots of girls.

However, Sasuke wasn't as perfect as he seemed. He was extremely arrogant, very stubborn, and didn't like having contact with other people if it wasn't needed. He had very few friends because he pushed people away. Very few people except for his best friend Uzumaki Naruto knew what he was _really_ like. Most people decided that he must be depressed or have issues to be so popular and not enjoy it. Girls stopped trying to get to know him and guys stopped trying to beat him in sports. Although, these minor details didn't stop Sakura from constantly thinking of him. Sasuke was in a few of her classes during the year and she even borrowed a pencil from him once, but that was about all the contact they'd ever had. Every girl needed some guy they could fantasize about.

After dinner Sakura finished her homework and lay on her bed. _"How in the world am I going to get through the next four weeks? I should just kill myself now and get it over with. Maybe I can switch classes. Nah, I wouldn't have enough time to do my homework. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to suffer."_ Sakura rolled on her side and stared at her clock. She seemed to be doing that quite a bit lately. Then she closed her eyes and went to sleep.

The next day Sakura trudged to class and sat down. The bell rang and class started. She responded to Kakashi's welcomes and good mornings. Then she prepared to sit in her desk for the two hours and thirty minutes of class. She noticed a girl with his headphones on get her iPod taken away. Sakura had considered brining her CD player for entertainment but thought better of it. "_I wish I had an iPod. They are way cooler than a stupid old CD player." _Sakura sighed and put her head down on her desk. She then noticed something different about what she had written earlier. Her writing was no longer there, someone else's was.

**This does suck. Maybe I should accidentally light Kakashi's hair on fire.**

Sakura suppressed a giggle and stared at the message. Apparently she wasn't the only one who was bored out of their mind. She decided to erase the message and write something else. She figured she'd ask some questions.

**That wouldn't work too great. Who are you? Would you rather finish summer school or get eaten alive by sharks?**

Satisfied with what she had written, Sakura decided maybe this small form of entertainment would keep her going. Who knew writing on desks could be fun? What if the person didn't answer back? Then what would she do? All she could do for now was sit and wait as Kakashi lectured about Polynomials and the clock ticked on.

**_A/N: _**Alrighty, we're pretty much done with plot exposition now. The stupid computer wouldn't let me stick any dividing lines between sections so that is why the story has none. I'm sorry. This really and truly is based of a real experience. I would REALLY appreciate it if I got feedback. Flames will be used to burn plot bunnies.


	2. Harsh Reality

**_A/N: _**A lot more people read and reviewed this story than I thought. Therefore I am updating much faster than I anticipated. Thanks for the inspiration! Instead of keeping the story at Sakura's POV I thought we'd take a look at who's on the other side. To those who didn't figure it out yet…well it is a SasuSaku fic after all. I am _very_ happy with this chapter. :)

"_Thoughts" _"Speech" **"Writing"**

**_Disclaimer: _**Still don't own it.

Chapter 2: Harsh Reality 

Uchiha Sasuke, the most popular boy in school, would rather go completely unnoticed. He never enjoyed much attention and hated having to express his feelings. He strongly believed that people should mind their own business and leave others alone. Was it his fault he looked the way he did or that he was good in sports? It wasn't his fault at all and there was _nothing_ he could do about it. Although, he wished more than anything else that he could.

As hard as Sasuke tried to push people away, they just kept coming back. He thought he had come up with brilliant ways to stop this madness that surrounded him but it was no use. The more losers he beat at sports, the more that kept coming back to challenge him. They just couldn't accept that he was the best. The girls were even worse. Couldn't they see that their high-pitched squealing and constant calling of his name were torture to his ears? Maybe they really _did _want to cause him pain.

There were only two people Sasuke knew who really understood him. Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuuga Neji had gone to preschool, elementary school, and middle school with Sasuke. As far as he was concerned, the three of them would be friends for life. Naruto was a blonde, hyperactive ball of energy that constantly got on everyone's nerves including Sasuke's. However, whenever Sasuke needed someone to listen to him complain about life, Naruto was there to listen and then make some wise cracks. He also served as Sasuke's outlet for anger. Yelling at Naruto made Sasuke feel a whole lot better. Neji was the complete opposite of Naruto. Neji was always calm and collected. He was a perfect student, unlike his two friends, and had never received any grade less than an A. He served as the voice of reason in their group. It seemed he always knew what to say and when to say it. Sasuke relied on his two friends even outside of school because life at home was anything but perfect.

Sasuke's parents had died in a car accident when he was eight. His mother was taking his father home from the airport during a rainstorm when a truck hit their car. The car skidded of the road and rolled down a hill into a ditch. By the time anyone had found them, they were already dead from severe injuries. Sasuke had to live at home with his older brother Itachi. Unfortunately, Itachi had some very scary friends with murky backgrounds. They always got into trouble with drugs and the police, so Itachi had to come up with excuses to get them out. Maybe it made him feel more powerful to be the smartest of his shady circle of friends. Sasuke and Itachi didn't get along very well after the accident and got into fistfights very often. Only once did it get out of hand and Sasuke had to be taken to the hospital.

Sasuke didn't always remember Itachi being dark and cold-blooded. He assumed the accident took a big toll on his brother. Itachi couldn't go to the college he wanted even though he was such a promising student. Their family didn't have much money so there was no way to pay for an ivy-league school. Itachi had to resort to going to the local college where most of the students were even less educated than Sasuke. All of the young Uchiha's other family either lived too far away or just didn't care to help them out. Sasuke decided to just stay quiet and keep to himself. No one could bother him if he didn't bother anyone else. The only people he had who truly cared about him were Naruto and Neji and he was thankful for it.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

After two years of high school and tutoring Sasuke was still not very good in the subject of math. For some reason, he just couldn't understand it. It was on this beautiful summer afternoon that he found himself sitting in the classroom of Hatake Kakashi. He didn't really care about going home since there was nothing waiting for him there except boredom and loneliness. Neji would be on a spectacular European vacation for the rest of the summer and Naruto was in class with Sasuke. Even though the two of them were closer with each other than with Neji, there was still only so much of Naruto that Sasuke could take in a day. Naruto sat right behind him in class.

Right after the bell rang and class began to start, Naruto reached up and slapped Sasuke's shoulder.

"Hey Sasuke!" he whispered quite loudly.

"…"

"Sasuke!"

"What loser face?"

"Uh…I gotta ask you something."

"Spit it out!" said a now highly agitated Sasuke.

"Can I quick copy your homework?"

"Why didn't you do it yourself?"

"I forgot."

"You always forget Naruto."

"Yeah I know. Can I have your packet now?"

Sasuke sighed and looked down at his packet that he was supposed to be correcting. Then he glanced up at Kakashi before sliding his packet back to Naruto.

"Thanks Sasuke. I'll make it up to you…eventually."

"Yeah yeah, just shut up okay?"

Sasuke sat and listened to Kakashi call out answers to problems. Periodically, someone would raise their hand and ask about a problem. Kakashi would do the problem on the board and continue. The whole grueling process of corrections took thirty minutes. By then, Sasuke would rather die then have to sit through the actual lesson for the day. He took out his notebook and prepared to write down what Kakashi put up on the board. _"Today's useless information is…adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing exponents. How is that supposed to help me in the future? This is stupid. Is Naruto done with my packet yet?"_ As soon as the topic of Naruto popped up in his head, Sasuke could feel a heavy tap on his shoulder.

"I'm done with your packet now!" Naruto attempted to whisper again.

"Fantastic. Can't you talk any quieter?"

"No, not really."

"Fine. Can I take my notes now?"

"You actually pay attention to this crap?"

"Unlike you, I _want_ to pass and maybe do something with my life."

"I want to pass too!"

"Then maybe you should start doing your homework."

Naruto sat back tensely in his seat. Sasuke smirked and continued copying his notes. Kakashi was standing off to the side, engrossed in his little orange book. Sasuke stared at its less-than-innocent binding for a few seconds and then continued to write once more. After Kakashi thought most of the students finished their notes he casually walked back to the front of the room to lecture.

Sasuke put his pencil down and sighed deeply. _"How could anyone want to teach the same boring gibberish twice in a day? It's not like he's getting paid much to do it. I guess teachers really don't have lives."_ Sasuke's eyes shifted around the room, looking for nothing in particular. Then he looked down at his notebook and tried to make sense of the hieroglyphs he'd written. Closing his notebook and pushing it aside, Sasuke put both hands on the front of his head and used the desk as a support for his elbows. This technique had proven to be very useful since it looked like you were vigorously concentrating when you were actually sleeping.

Instead of closing his eyes and drifting off to a more peaceful location, Sasuke noticed that what he had scrawled on the desk during the previous day was now gone and had the same writing he had found before. The only difference was that this time instead of a statement being written upon the surface there was a question.

**That wouldn't work to great. Who are you? Would you rather finish summer school or get eaten alive by sharks?**

Sasuke stared at the writing for about two minutes before picking up his pencil. However, he was very hesitant to write anything. _"What the hell am I doing? I'm not seriously going to write back, am I? This is probably some crazed fangirl who tracked down my handwriting style and is trying to stalk me. It has to be a girl. No person I know writes that neat except for Neji but he's too smart to be here."_ Sasuke put his pencil down again and decided to listen to the lecture instead. Ten minutes before class was over, Naruto tapped Sasuke again.

"Hey Sasuke! Do you get what he's been talking about?"

Sasuke grunted in response.

"You know I don't understand you when you do that."

"…"

"Sasuke!"

"Damn Naruto! Why don't you just listen to what he's saying?"

"I am but it doesn't make any sense!"

"Stay after class and get help!"

"Are you crazy? I'm not staying any longer than I have to!"

"Then leave me the hell alone!"

"What the hell is your problem?"

Sasuke slapped his hand down on his desk and sharply turned around to glare at Naruto. Through gritted teeth he said, "I don't have one. Got it?"

Naruto felt a pang of fear go through him. "Yeah, I got it."

"Then. Shut. Up," said Sasuke in a low, cold voice. He turned back around in his seat.

After the bell rang and everyone had left, Sasuke didn't leave. Something was keeping him glued to his seat. Kakashi noticed this odd behavior and walked up to Sasuke.

"Mr. Uchiha, is there a problem?"

"…No, there is not."

"Most normal teenagers are compelled to jump through the windows to get out of this class. Are you sure you're okay?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "I'm fine."

"Okay, well I'm going to leave now." With that Kakashi took out his book and walked out of the classroom.

Sasuke was now completely alone. It was just he and the desk, just he and the message written on it. _"It's just some stupid scribble on a desk! It doesn't mean anything!"_ The loneliness inside of Sasuke desperately wanted to answer back. It wanted this small form of companionship. If the person on the other side didn't know it was him, maybe they'd want to be his friend for who he really was. Deciding that he'd never win a glaring contest against a desk, Sasuke picked up his pencil and began to erase what was written. He needed an alias to go by. He didn't want something stupid like "sportsboy" or "KonohaLeafHighKid." It had to be something that matched who he was. _"Well, I'm pretty empty on the inside and fire is pretty cool I guess." _Sasuke reluctantly wrote down on the desk, picked up his bag, and walked out of the classroom.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Naruto had met up with Sasuke on the bus and was walking back with him to his house. They walked in silence for a while which can only last so long in the company of a contained explosion.

"Sasuke, are you okay? You seem quiet…er."

"hm…"

"Okay, I'll take that as a yes."

Sasuke and Naruto kept walking until they could see Sasuke's house in the distance. Sasuke stopped abruptly at the sight of his older brother smoking on the front porch. Naruto followed Sasuke's gaze and then put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"You know Sasuke, if you want to come to my Uncle's ramen shop with me you can."

Sasuke looked at him with emotionless eyes and then smirked. "Nah, I want to pass summer school remember?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"If I don't do my homework, who are you going to copy off tomorrow?"

Naruto scratched his head and stood planted on the ground. Sasuke decided to run down the street back to his house. After Sasuke had gone Naruto's eyes lit up.

"Hey! I'm going to do my homework today…maybe!"

"Bye Stupid!" yelled Sasuke.

Sasuke slowed down as he came to the front of his house. He stared at the mess that was his brother on the front porch. On the outside, Itachi was a very well kept person. His clothes were neat and his hair was pulled back tightly into a ponytail. However, his eyes were completely red and he was very pale. His eyes always seemed to be red now. Sasuke felt disgust when he remembered what his brother used to be like.

Itachi casually exhaled a puff of smoke. "How was school?"

Sasuke flinched at the iciness in his voice. "Boring."

"I'm going out later. I won't be home for a while."

"Fine." Sasuke walked up the steps to go inside.

"Oh and Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned around and stared blankly at Itachi.

"You're going to have to get some food. There's nothing left in the house."

"Why didn't you go buy some more?"

Itachi waved his hand in the air and exhaled another puff of smoke. "Didn't feel like it."

"Shouldn't you be at work or something?"

"Foolish little brother, it's none of your business what I do."

Sasuke felt anger rising inside of him but tried to hold it back. "Yes it is! Your life is directly affecting mine now if you haven't noticed! Why don't you, I don't know, clean yourself up or something?"

"Well, if our parents hadn't left us out on a limb to die I could be a surgeon or a C.E.O. and racking up a ton of money. Regrettably, that's not the case," said Itachi, completely cold and indifferent.

The fact that Itachi could talk so uncaringly about their parents made Sasuke want to kill him but he thought better of it and went inside. Since there wasn't any food it was pointless to try to eat dinner. Maybe he'd take Naruto up on his offer. Sasuke sat at the kitchen table and started his homework for the next day. He just wanted to get his work done and go to sleep. Getting an education was the most efficient way of getting out of the dump he lived in.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sakura awoke to the sound of a shrill alarm in the soft sheets of her comfy bed. She groaned and hit the "snooze" button with the back of her hand. A few minutes later the alarm was ringing in her ears once more. With a defeated sigh she got out of bed and walked downstairs to the kitchen. Occasionally, Sakura wished her room was on the first floor but being up high was kind of nice.

Sakura grabbed some toast in the kitchen and sat down to watch TV for a few minutes before she had to get ready for school. _"Wait, I have to go to school in the summer? Oh yes, that's why I'm up so early." _Sakura trudged back up the stairs and stumbled into her bathroom to take a shower. She got dressed and walked outside to wait for the bus to pick her up. On the bus she was looking over her homework when a thought struck her. What would it say on the desk today? Sakura had forgotten she now had something to look forward to at school.

Rushing into class before anyone else, Sakura ran to her seat and sat down. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her but then shook his head. Students would always remain a complex puzzle to him. Sakura looked on either side of her as if checking to see if anyone was watching. To her joy there was a new message on the desk.

**I am NOT going to tell you who I am. If you must call me something, call me Dark Flame. Sharks seem pretty convenient right about now. **

Sakura mouthed the few sentences over and over. Seeing those words on the desk filled her with excitement. Who could this dark flame possibly be? _"It's a guy for sure. Most of the girls in this school would have been 'Mrs. Uchiha' or 'flowersRkewl.' Stupid girls, they are such losers. Wait, girls aren't losers! Just the stupid ones!" _Sakura wanted to find out more information about this person but one sentence a day wouldn't do it. She couldn't write all over the desk because then Kakashi would definitely notice. Then an idea came to mind. What if she wrote on a paper and stuck it under the desk for the person to find? _"My my Sakura, who's the brilliant one now?"_ Sakura took out a piece of paper and pretended to be writing notes so no one would be suspicious. It's not like that Shino guy would be paying attention to her anyway. Sakura decided to write a questionnaire but then answer the questions herself so it was fair.

**Dark Flame- you can call me _Ms. S_. I take it you are probably bored to tears like I am.  
So to keep things interesting, why don't you fill out the questions I ask? If you want to know  
something about me, I'll answer it too. If you chose not to answer, say why.  
**

**1. What is your favorite color?**  
_**Pink**_

**2. Where do you want to travel?**  
_**New Zealand ****looks cool**_

**3. What's your best subject?**  
_**Science**_

**4. What job do you want?**  
_**Doctor, I like the idea of healing people**_

**5. If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?**  
_**A never-ending supply of money to go shopping  
**_

**6. Would you rather have your parents kill you or finish summer school?**  
_**Summer school but death is sounds nice right about now  
**_

Sakura folded the paper in half three times and then took her pencil and wrote on the desk. Then she dropped her pencil on the floor and bent underneath her desk. She pushed the paper between where the leg of the desk curved up and hit the desk bottom. This way, no one would see the note unless they bent over. Sakura picked up her pencil and sat back up to find Kakashi staring at her with a quizzical expression on his face.

"Is there something wrong Kakashi-sensei?"

"You were down there a long time. Is everything alright?"

"Oh yes! I just dropped my pencil!"

"You couldn't find it?"

"No, see it rolled under another desk and I had to get it."

"Okay, whatever you say Ms. Haruno."

Sakura exhaled the breath she was holding and rested back in her seat. She only had to wait one more day to see what this "dark flame" had written back. She hoped this person wasn't psychopathic or seriously depressed. That would be a little too creepy for her. On the other hand, if it really was a girl who just happened to like the name, then she hoped they weren't too preppy or bubbly. Sakura had a relatively happy personality herself but she hated overly happy people. Cheerleaders were overly happy people and Sakura _hated_ cheerleaders. The one exception was Ino who she could never hate.

Class went by in its usual boring way and Sakura didn't pay attention. She was mostly lost in thought over this mysterious person she was making contact with. _"It will be cool getting to know someone without prejudgment on looks and so on. They can't call me forehead girl and I can't assume anything about them either. I am definitely going to have to tell Ino about this one."_ Sakura drifted off into a trance. The bell signifying class was over pulled her out it. She gathered her things and walked out of the school towards the bus stop.

On the way to the bus, Sakura almost dropped her bag when she caught sight of the person who occupied her fancies. Sasuke was walking down the street with his hands in his pockets straight toward her. She wanted to walk but she felt as if the ground was pulling her down. As he got closer and closer her heart started beating faster and faster. Then, as if God could hear her inner most thoughts, he stopped right in front of her. _"Is Sasuke really standing right in front of me? Is he really?"_ Sasuke stood for a few seconds and then grunted. Sakura stood still, completely enthralled.

"Um…you're in the way," mumbled Sasuke.

"What?"

"Could you move?" he said sharply.

Sakura realized she was blocking the sidewalk. "Oh I'm so sorry!"

"…Whatever."

Sakura watched as Sasuke walked casually toward the school. Then she turned and flew down the sidewalk when she realized her bus was leaving. Thankfully, the bus driver saw her making a mad dash towards the bus and waited for her to get on. Once seated Sakura's mind became a whirlwind of thought. _"Sasuke does summer school? Is he taking math? What if he was…no, couldn't be. Someone like him wouldn't write on a desk. He'd probably think it was stupid. He's probably not even taking math."_ Satisfied with that conclusion, Sakura watched the trees go by outside her window. She had to call Ino as soon as she got home.

**_A/N: _**So I lied about the plot exposition and I made my own division lines...circles. I HATE when people make Sasuke a perfect golden boy in high school fics. He's never been perfect, not even in the series itself. I tried to take his sad back-story and modernize it but keep elements of the original in there. Plus we have to keep him just a tad on the angsty side. Did I succeed? All of your comments are so great and I got this chapter out faster because of you!


	3. Multiple Conversations

**_A/N:_** You guys are so awesome with your feedback, which brings me to my small favor I'd like to ask you. I recently wrote a short one-shot on the aftermath of Sasuke and Itachi's final battle. Being that I'm so spoiled on feedback I was slightly concerned when I didn't receive any but I feel _so_ _strongly_ about this small piece. So getting down to the shameful fic advertisement, could you please check out my fic "Bloodstained Regret." It's really tiny and if you absolutely hate it I understand. I'd just really appreciate it if a few of you read it. Thanks for everything, here's your next chapter. :)

"_Thoughts" _"Speech" **"Writing"**

**_Disclaimer: _**Still don't own it some more.

Chapter 3: Multiple Conversations  


As soon as Sakura got home she rushed to her room and punched the numbers into her pink flip phone. She had the phone, now all she needed was the iPod. _"Come on Ino where are you? Pick up the stupid phone!"_ On the last ring before the message machine kicked in, Ino finally answered her phone.

"Hello?"

"Ino! Where have you been? It's Sakura."

"Yeah I know it's you. How has your forehead, I mean, school been?"

"Really stupid but I've got something I have to tell you!"

"What is it then?"

"I was bored one day at school and started writing on my desk and…"

"Isn't writing on desks for first graders?"

"Yeah I know but it's a REALLY boring class."

"Okay, go on."

"So I wrote on my desk and someone wrote back. Now we've been writing to each other."

"Do you know who it is?"

Sakura paused. "No, I don't."

"Well silly, you have to find out!"

"I know, but I don't want to yet. That would spoil it."

"What if it's some hot guy?"

"Is that _all_ you think about Ino?"

"No, I think about shopping too."

"Great…"

"Although, what if it's some creepy freak? That'd be so funny!"

"Ino! I actually thought about that one. I highly doubt it though."

"You can never be too sure."

"That's just a risk I'm going to have to take then."

"Hey! What if I accidentally showed up at school one day? I could look for you."

"We could do that, but I just want to keep it secret a little longer."

"So why did you bother calling me if you don't want me involved?"

"I really wanted to tell you about it, come on."

"That's just stupid. I am getting involved somehow."

"I know you are, you always get mixed in my personal business."

"I'm sorry Sakura dear, but you were stuck with me from the moment I saved you from those biatches at pre-school."

Sakura sighed. "I guess you're right."

"Fantastic! So what's his name?"

"How'd you know it was a guy?"

"Oh come on Sakura, you wouldn't be calling me if it wasn't."

"I can hear the evil in your voice Ino."

"You know it!"

"Alrighty, he hasn't really told me his name yet but he's calling himself "Dark Flame."

"Oooooh, sounds sexy."

"Ino!"

"Okay okay. Do we have any info on him?"

"Not really, just that he's bored out of his mind. Otherwise he wouldn't be writing back."

"Sakura, we need details."

"I know that. I wrote down some questions that he'll hopefully answer tomorrow."

"Please don't tell me you asked him what his favorite color was."

"…"

"Sakura you are so stupid."

"Hey, I don't want to rush it!"

"You better ask some more interesting stuff soon. Hold on, I've got another call."

Sakura sat and waited while on hold. Ino did have a good point. She was going to have to get more information soon. She waited patiently for Ino but started to get anxious as the minutes went by. Right when Sakura was ready to hang up, Ino came back.

"Sorry Sakura, we have cheer camp soon and I need to get ready."

"Hold on, you're leaving me to go with a bunch of idiots?"

"They're not idiots! How many times do I have to say it? It's at the end of the summer right before school so don't worry."

"Sure. I guess that's okay."

"Sakura! You know I wouldn't leave you in your time of social need!"

"Ino you're my _savior._"

"Don't forget it. Now where were we?"

"Talking about mysterious desk guy."

"Oh yes. Well, you're just going to have to report everything back to me."

"Why?"

"Because I need to formulate a master plan. Then I can eventually find out who it is for you!"

"Okay...oh Ino! Guess who I saw today?"

"I don't know, the mailman?"

"Uh! No. I saw Sasuke!"

"OH NO YOU DIDN'T!"

"Yes I did."

"Was he completely gorgeous? Did his hair shine in the sunlight? Weren't his clothes totally perfect? Did he talk to you? Were you intelligent and said something back? I NEED TO KNOW!"

Sakura smiled. The cheer squad was pretty much Sasuke's ultimate fan club that is, if he had one. Ino was probably more obsessed than she was. "Okay, yes to the fist four questions and kinda ish yes to the last."

"What do you mean you didn't talk to him?"

"It's pretty funny actually. I was blocking his path down the sidewalk and he told me to move so I apologized and he walked off."

"You are _such_ a dork!"

"Hey! He stopped in front of me for a whole ten seconds!"

"It still doesn't count."

"Whatever, I have to go do my homework now. I'll call some other time. I'm wasting my minutes anyway."

"Why didn't you use your house phone?"

"My mom gets really mad if I block the house phone for an hour talking to you. Bye."

"See ya."

Sakura snapped her phone shut and lay back on her bed. For some reason, talking to Ino for long spans of time always made her tired. She knew she would have to start her homework very soon if it was going to get done. For now, she'd just take short rest.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sasuke quietly walked into class and sat down in his seat. Naruto wasn't in class yet so he'd have a few minutes to himself. A nagging feeling inside of him told him to check if there was anything new on the desk. He had no choice but to do so.

**Look under your desk.**

Sasuke raised his eyebrows. The desk was giving him commands now? There was probably just a wad of gum underneath it. However, having nothing better to do, Sasuke leaned over and scanned the bottom of his desk. It didn't take him very long to find a piece of lined paper folded neatly and wedged in the corner of the desk. He carefully pulled it out and placed it on top of his desk.

"_To open the paper, or not to open the paper. That is the million-dollar question. God I hate Shakespeare. We should take every play he ever wrote and burn it. Curse him for implanting his seeds of Old English into my brain."_ Despite the fact Sasuke hated the idea of actually wanting to read what was inside the folded paper he did it anyway.

Sasuke looked at the words beautifully written on the paper and then pulled out a pencil. _"This girl has good handwriting. That's nice for a change. Okay, first question…that is a really stupid first question. Pink is her answer? Pink…reminds me of that chick with the pink hair. Who in the world has pink hair? I guess it's kind of unique but whatever. _

Sasuke wrote down his answers but stopped at the last question. As if the paper had insulted him immensely, he glared down at it as if trying to burn it with his eyes. He clenched his fist until he could feel his nails digging into his palm. _"Maybe I would want my parents to kill me, then they'd still be alive." _Deciding to leave the answer blank rather than going completely insane he left it be. It was none of her business what went on with him personally.

Still, Sasuke remembered what she had written about not answering and scribbled down on the paper once more. He was about to put the paper back under the desk when Naruto shouted out to him.

"SA-SUKE! HOW'S IT GO-ING"

"Why are you talking like that?"

"I don't know. I was watching TV and the guy sounded pretty cool."

"Well you sound like an idiot."

Naruto pouted but then noticed the paper still in Sasuke's hand. "Hey what's that? A love note from one of your fangirls?"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "It's none of your business now shut up."

"You're always telling me to shut up when you know I can't!"

"You're so friggin' loud. It drives me insane."

Naruto frowned and then sat in his seat with a huff.

Sasuke looked forward and locked eyes with Kakshi before he began to speak with the class. _"Why the hell does he keep looking at me? Can't the world leave me alone?"_

Class went by in it's usual way. First corrections, then notes, then lecture, then more notes, and then more lecturing. The class was unusually quiet today. Not many questions were asked and certain people didn't bother others about homework. Sasuke found something very disturbing about that fact and whispered to Naruto.

"Naruto," he said firmly.

"Look who wants to talk now!"

Sasuke let that comment pass. "Listen, did you actually do your homework?"

Naruto grinned from ear to ear. "Yes I did. So there." He stuck out his tongue.

"Prove it loser."

"Take a look yourself!"

Naruto handed Sasuke his packet. Sasuke looked down the page and smirked.

"You are such an idiot. You wrote _every_ answer as 17."

"Your point is…"

"Every answer can't be 17."

"Well you never know. It could be."

Sasuke flung Naruto's packet back to him. "Next time, you'd have better luck just copying off me."

"If you're so smart in math then why are you here?"

"Shut up. At least I get some stuff."

"Again with the shut up!"

Sasuke decided to push it. "Shut. Up."

"AHHHH. Fine I'll shut up then!"

"Perfect."

Sasuke stared out the window next to him. The trees were covered in leaves for the summer. A few bushes had little pink flower buds sprouting off them. _"Why is everything pink? Is this supposed to be telling me something?"_ After a few moments Sasuke's thoughts wandered back to a certain pink-haired girl. _"Pink, I guess that's cute. What am I saying? That girl is just another annoying fanbitch. Class has got to end soon."_

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

When the bell rang and students began to file out of class, Naruto caught up with Sasuke. At first he didn't say anything but then he ran up and blocked Sasuke's path.

"Move."

"No, you promised we'd play HALO today."

"No I didn't."

"Well, I guess not but please? Come over, I don't feel like doing homework."

"You never feel like doing homework."

"That's because I don't get it."

"Look Naruto, what if I just help you or something?"

"You'd help me? Really?"

"Yeah, just don't get too mushy on me," mumbled Sasuke.

Naruto grinned. "I won't!"

The two teens took the bus and walked back to Naruto's house. When they got to his room Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks. Naruto flopped on his bed and looked back at Sasuke.

"What?"

"…"

"No seriously, what is it?"

"Your room looks like crap and it smells," said Sasuke with a disgusted face.

"Geez! I got some clothes on floor, big deal."

Sasuke looked at the empty ramen cups and soda cans, the piles of wrappers, and the mountains of socks and dirty underwear around the tiny room. He suddenly didn't want to be within a five-mile radius of the room.

"You are really sick."

"What is your problem? You don't pick up your room either!"

"I don't let it become a rat's nest. When's the last time you were over at my house anyway?"

Naruto looked down at the floor and then up at his ceiling. When was the last time he visited the Uchiha residence? Then a horrible thought struck him.

"You don't want to know."

"What?"

"The last time I was over. Remember? You usually came over here after…"

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He could have yelled a multitude of things at Naruto but thought better of it. He took a deep breath and then sighed audibly. "Fine. Let's just go back to my house then."

"Are you sure?"

"There is no way you can make me stay here."

Naruto laughed and then picked up his backpack. "I'll race you back!"

"Let's not and say we did."

"You're no fun."

"When has fun ever been in my vocabulary?"

Naruto stopped talking for a moment. "Good point."

Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned around to leave.

Naruto ran up Sasuke's front steps and stepped inside his house. He looked around at the pictures on the wall and then ran down to where Sasuke's room was. Sasuke slammed the door behind him and then followed Naruto back to his room.

Sasuke's room was extremely clean compared to what Naruto's was. He had a black comforter on his bed in the corner, a small wooden desk with a labtop on it, one closet in the back of the room, and a few band posters on the wall. His walls were a deeo blue and his carpet was gray. It was simple and somewhat dark but that would be describing all that was Sasuke.

"You apparently have no respect for personal property," said Sasuke noticing Naruto sprawled across his bed.

"Who cares? I used to practically live here."

"Whatever."

"Hey Sasuke, why is your house so dark?"

"I don't know, maybe Itachi forgot to pay the electric bill or something."

"Not that, I mean it just seems…darker or something then I remember."

Saskue stood still and glared at Naruto from where he stood. Then he put his backpack on the back of his desk chair and took a seat on the corner of his bed.

"Where is your brother anyway?"

"Don't know, don't care."

Naruto tried to think of something that would make the morose scene a more comfortable one. "Hey, are you up for HALO?"

Sasuke looked down at his friend. "You are so gonna lose."

"Wanna bet?"

"No, because I'd just take all your money from you and then you'd be sad. I don't want _little bitty Nawuto_ to get all _sad._"

Sasuke looked at Naruto with puppy dog eyes that would have probably killed Ino but just infuriated his friend, which was the desired effect.

"Drop it! I am so going to kill your stupid ass!"

"Bring it."

So, as most teenage boys do, Sasuke and Naruto wasted their lives away playing HALO for five hours before they became hungry and went down to Naruto's Uncle's ramen shop. It was the first time in a long while the Sasuke was honestly happy.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sakura stretched her arms and shakily sat up. She waited for her eyes to become adjusted to the light streaming through her room. She climbed off her bed and walked into the bathroom. Coming out of the bathroom her mom yelled up the stairs.

"Sakura, it's time to go to school."

"What?"

"Aren't you ready for school yet?"

"No I just woke up!"

"You're going to miss your bus!"

Sakura stood in shock. When did she go to sleep? She was just talking to Ino and then… _"Holy crap I went to sleep! I didn't do my homework! I am so screwed! Damn, I probably missed my bus too!"_ Sakura scrambled around her room to find clothes. She decided making her bed wasn't very important and flew down the stairs. _"Where are my shoes!"_

"Mom, where are my shoes?"

"By the door sweetie."

"I am so going to be late!"

**_A/N:_** Oh man, Sakura is in trouble. Thanks again for all your great feedback! Comments are wonderful and critique is welcomed! Flames will be used to burn Shakespeare plays! Just kidding :)


	4. Excuses and Trouble

**_A/N:_** I apologize for not updating sooner. Because it's the fall and classes start again I'm going to update much slower. If chapters don't come out right away fear not because I love this story and you guys are awesome. Please enjoy!

"_Thoughts" _"Speech" **"Writing"**

**_Disclaimer: _**You know what goes here.

Chapter 4: Excuses and Trouble

Sakura was frantic. Not only had she forgotten to do her homework but she was going to be late for school as well. She made a mad dash to her bus stop only to see the bus driving down the street and turning a corner. _"Oh God what am I going to do? I can't drive myself! I don't have a license yet! Wait…Mom!"_ Sakura whipped around and scrambled back to her house.

She burst through the door and skidded to a stop. "MOTHER!"

"Shhhhh! Your father is trying to sleep!"

"Ride! School! Now!" Sakura was gasping for air. She wasn't in good shape since she didn't play sports.

"Isn't there a later class? Why don't you just go to that one?"

"NO!"

Sakura's mother looked at her in shock. "Excuse me?"

"No I can't, I have to uh…go to Ino's cheer competition!"

"But you hate cheerleading."

"Well there's a first time for everything."

"Sakura, you know school comes first and friends later."

"This is really important to her though! She's been training for months so I can't let her down!" Sakura was so tempted to start cracking up but she'd have to keep a straight face for a little longer.

"Okay then, let me get my keys."

Sitting in the car, Sakura looked perfectly calm on the outside. On the inside her inner self was a whirlwind of emotion. _"I just duped Mom into driving me to school and I don't have to go to second period! I STILL DIDN'T DO MY HOMEWORK THOUGH! What's Kakashi going to say?"_

Sakura jumped out of the car when it wasn't even completely stopped yet. She ran to her classroom and lunged toward the door. When she stepped inside the whole class turned to look at her. She shifted uncomfortably and began to walk forward but Kakashi stopped her.

"Ms. Haruno."

"Yes Kakshi-sensei?"

"Do you realize you are twenty minutes late?"

"I do sensei."

"Would you mind explaining why this is so?"

Sakura was drawing a blank. What was she supposed to say?

"Sakura I'm waiting."

"Sorry it's just that…"

"What?"

"Family emergency," whispered Sakura.

"Could you say it again?"

"We had a family emergency."

Kakashi's gaze softened. "Oh, are you okay? Do you want to come to the later class?"

"No! I can't!"

"Do you need anything?" said Kakashi very quietly.

"Well Kakashi-sensei, I wasn't able to do my homework."

"I understand. You've done your homework everyday now so I'll excuse you just this once. Hurry to your seat. We just corrected homework but apparently that doesn't matter much for you."

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura quickly walked to her seat and noticed a pair of sunglasses peering in her direction. Shino shook his head and turned back to the front. _"He is so totally creepy."_ Sakura exhaled a deep sigh and then put her things for class on her desk. _"I forgot! The desk!"_ Sakura looked over the surface to find a single statement.

**Really stupid first question. **

She laughed softly. _"I guess Ino isn't the only one who thinks it."_ Making sure Kakashi wasn't watching she bent over her desk and grabbed the folded paper. Sakura put it in her lap and carefully unfolded the sheet. She closed her eyes when it was fully open as if wanting to savor the moment. After a few seconds and a couple deep breaths she read what was written.

**Ms. S- No one is allowed to know my personal business, not even you.  
I'll only tell you what I want to tell you, got that? You have no idea of  
who I am or what I've been through so be careful of what you say.  
**

**1. What is your favorite color?**  
_**Black**_

**2. Where do you want to travel?**  
_**Far away from here**_

**3. What's your best subject?**  
_**If P.E. doesn't count then Science**_

**4. What job do you want?**  
_**Something in the government official area, like an FBI member**_

**5. If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?**  
_**The ability to go back in time and fix things**_

**6. Would you rather have your parents kill you or finish summer school?**  
_**Have my parents kill me**_

Sakura read the message several times. It seemed like there were some dark things going on in this person's life. Maybe they were depressed or something. _"Or they might just have an unusually dark and empty personality. That's kind of boring. Why in the world would he rather have his parents kill him than finish summer school?"_

Ino's words came floating back into Sakura's head. She needed to get as much information on this person as possible. However, insulting him was not on her list of things she wanted to do. Laying the paper flat on her desk, Sakura picked up her pencil and began to write in the space below the last note. She tried to think of questions that would be less invading of personal space but would still give her what she wanted.

Satisfied with what was on the page, Sakura gently folded the paper and put it back in its spot under the desk. She decided it was about time to think some things over. She blatantly lied to the two biggest forms of authority in her life. It was funny but also wrong. She had to make sure that neither her mother nor Kakashi found out the truth.

There was no way Sakura could go to that second class. That would completely ruin the surprise. Deep down, Sakura also feared the disappointment of having her secret pen pal be some average teen. She had been thinking up many scenarios in her mind as to who this person could be, and it would be very unsatisfying to learn it was no one special or particularly interesting. Then again, she had a very peculiar feeling that this person would not disappoint her in any way. Who would want their parents to kill them?

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Ino sat on her bed in her very pink and purple room. She was confused and somewhat frustrated at what Sakura had said. Who in the world was in a second period summer school class that would write back to someone like Sakura? Ino pretty much knew everyone in the school even if they didn't want to know her. It would be easy to just ask someone from second period who sat in Sakura's desk. However, that would take all the fun out of looking for herself.

Ino was going to go against Sakura's whishes and look at the second period class. She wouldn't tell Sakura she knew who it was until Sakura wanted to know. She was only doing it for her own curiosity. The only problem was she didn't know which desk Sakura sat in. _"Oh duh! It will be the desk with the writing on it. I mean how many people seriously write on desks? Ino, you are a genius."_

A few hours after lunch was over Ino headed toward the school. She knew Sakura would be at home by this time and that second period would be almost done so she wouldn't have to wait for two hours and thirty minutes of class. She'd have to go look right away before everyone got up to know who sat in what desk.

When the bell rang Ino burst through the door and scanned the area just as everyone got up to leave. Her one special skill was her amazing memory. Her eyes dropped on a student with spiky raven black hair quietly walking out of class. She followed him until he was out of sight down the hallway. _"No way, Sasuke is in this class? I thought he was good at math! NO WAY!"_ Feeling Kakashi's gaze upon her, Ino decided to talk to one of the girls until he left so it would be less suspicious.

When Ino was the last one in the classroom she began to walk from desk to desk, peering over at each wooden surface. There were seven rows of desks, six desks in each row so it was going to take her some time. She didn't want to accidentally miss something.

She was incredibly stupid to think that people no longer wrote on desks. There was lots of random scribbles, symbols of certain body parts, doodles, and hate notes to Kakashi. _"Why is the world so immature?"_ Ino knew what Sakura's handwriting looked like but the second class was done so she'd have to look for someone else's handwriting that actually gave a message and not some doodle.

Ino stopped at a desk in the fourth row when she noticed something other than a hateful message. It was written in the bottom corner of the desk and looked suspicious enough. Ino sat in the desk and tried to decipher the handwriting. _"It says: crayons taste good…hmmmmm. I don't think Sakura would talk to someone who eats crayons. Plus I can barely read this! Next!"_

Ino stood back up again and continued her search. When she got to the last row she was feeling very impatient. Maybe she really was just wasting her time. Something wanted her to find out. Sakura can't have secret friends that she didn't know about. Nothing is secret between them.

When she got to the second to last desk in the row she stopped again. It was right next to the window towards the back. _"Sakura is not stupid. If she wanted to get away with not paying attention she'd sit here. Plus this time it says something more cryptic: Slightly less stupid to answer than before. I think this could be it!" _Ino ran her hands over the smooth surface of the desk. Then she bent over and looked at the bottom of the chair and desk. She noticed a piece of lined paper wedged in the corner of the desk. _"Bingo."_

Ino unfolded the paper and looked over the words. She read the messages written on the paper until she was sure she had memorized each of them. When she was done she folded the paper and put it back exactly how she'd found it. _"So Dark Flame does sit here, and Sakura is calling herself Ms. S. Who is it really? Wait a minute…oh my God."_

Ino's eyes widened as realization dawned upon her. It was all so clear now, the lack of information, the gloomy responses, and the pure mysteriousness of it all. It was so like the boy she loved with all her heart. Sakura was making contact with a person who never opened up to anyone.

Jealousy began to ignite and burn passionately within Ino. Why did Sakura get to talk to Sasuke? What made her so deserving of his friendship? She barely even knew most of the things about Sasuke that Ino did. They promised to stop arguing over him in the past but this was different. _"I will make sure they don't get closer. I don't know how but I will."_ Ino got up and left the classroom. She'd go along with Sakura's little game, for now.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o **

Earlier that morning, Sasuke woke up to the sound Naruto's snores. After eating dinner together they went back to Sasuke's again and started their homework. Of course neither of them finished due to Naruto's incessant whining. Sasuke decided skipping one night of homework wouldn't kill him. Besides, kicking Naruto's butt in senseless violent video games was way more fun. Sasuke got out of bed and sharply kicked the side of the snoring mass on the floor. It was already ten o'clock so they needed to get up.

"Wake up Naruto," mumbled Sasuke.

Naruto groaned and rolled over. "Five more minutes."

"Fine…dropout."

"Come on Sasuke!"

"It's already ten. I'm taking a shower."

"What?" Naruto didn't get a response because Sasuke had already left.

After showering and getting ready for the day, Sasuke found Naruto and his older brother sitting at the kitchen table. Naruto was eating cereal and Itachi was twirling a pencil in his fingers while finishing his homework. Sasuke sent a glare in Itachi's direction before grabbing a bowl to eat. Itachi watched Sasuke's every movement until he had sat down. Naruto was the first to break the silence.

"Hey Sasuke?"

"hm."

"Is Kakashi going to get pissed since we didn't do our homework?"

"You should know since you never do yours."

"But I always copy off of you so I kinda don't."

"…"

"So uh, yeah."

Itachi stopped his hypnotic pencil twirling and stared at Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he angrily glared back.

"You seem colder than usual," said Itachi while he continued to stare indifferently at Sasuke.

"You care because?"

Itachi smirked. "Did some girl dump you?"

Naruto started to laugh. "Sasuke's never had a girlfriend!"

Sasuke glared daggers at his loud-mouthed friend. "Shut up Naruto."

"Ha, my foolish little brother is still not interested in women. You are so lucky to be like me and have girls falling at your feet and yet you pay no attention to them," said Itachi in a cruel way.

Sasuke had an impulse to take his spoon and shove it through his brother's eye socket but thought better of it. He just continued to eat.

Itachi continued his pencil twirling. "So Naruto, I haven't seen you in a while."

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, I've been doing stuff."

"Oh really?"

"Uh…yeah."

Itachi picked up his things and went back to his room before emerging with his backpack. He flipped his car keys around his finger before heading out the door.

"I'll be back whenever."

Sasuke didn't answer and Naruto shoved more cereal into his mouth.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o **

At school things went by in a regular fashion for the Uchiha and his friend. Class droned on and they didn't even bother thinking about their homework situation. Sasuke was so tired of being bored that he occasionally put up with Naruto's chatter about random things that popped into his head. Everyone in the class was at a point when they wanted school to end, but coming to the end of the second week they still had three to go.

Sasuke decided he'd leave his _other_ activity during class until the end so there was at least some form of entertainment to look forward to. He had no idea how he'd survive real school after a summer of doing classes. It was like school had never ended for him. Even if Neji was around, things wouldn't be much more interesting. Neji didn't talk much and Naruto talked too much. There really wasn't anything to do at home either.

Towards the end of class Sasuke was getting ready to read his new message when Naruto called for his attention again. He was going to ignore Naruto and go on with his business but he knew if he didn't talk to Naruto now he'd never be in peace.

"Sasuke!"

"…"

"Sasuke!"

"…"

"SASUKE!"

"Do you have any skills other than saying my name?"

"Wow, you were actually trying to be funny!"

"Whatever."

"Anyway, I had a question about your brother."

Sasuke clenched his fist. "You know far better than to mention him in my presense. Why should I be concerned about him?" he said irritably.

"It's just that he seemed kinda…weird or something."

"Am I supposed to care?"

"I don't know, is he sick?"

"If you are referring to his mental state then I'd have to say yes. Now drop it."

"Sasuke you used to always want to do everything with him and be like him. What happened with you guys?"

"Naruto just SHUT UP OKAY?"

"Yeah but…"

"ENOUGH!"

When Sasuke looked up to the front of the room all eyes were in his direction.

"Is there a problem Mr. Uchiha?" asked Kakashi very softly.

"No, can't you leave me alone?"

"Please try to keep it down. You should be paying attention since you missed your homework."

Sasuke looked away from Kakashi and tried to ignore the whispers around him. After the small amount of commotion died down and Naruto stayed quiet Sasuke reached under his desk and grabbed the sheet of paper.

**Dark Flame- I'm sorry if I offended you in any way. Going beyond  
boundaries of personal space is the last thing I want to do. How could  
I have known I went too far when I barely know you? Please don't be  
upset with me. My intentions are only good and not hateful. I hope  
you'll still be my friend.**

**1. What is your greatest achievement?  
_Getting a 4.0 up until Algebra_**

**2. What are some of your favorite things to do?  
_Talking with friends, shopping, helping little kids_**

**3. Name three traits you like about yourself.  
_My personality, hair, and loyalty to people I like_**

**4. One thing you love more than anything else.  
_Chocolate cake_**

**5. One thing you hate more than anything else.  
_Summer school_**

**6. Your dream car.  
_A shiny red Porsche convertible_**

Sasuke had a rare impulse to laugh. Oh yes, it was _very_ rare. _"This has to be the most typical high school girl I've ever heard of. She could be on a beauty pageant with some of these answers. Well, at least she's honest."_ Sasuke quickly wrote back below her message and put it back underneath the desk.

When the bell rang and students started to file out of class Sasuke didn't get up. While he was thinking about the last message it started to hit him that he was in fact making a new friend. It wasn't very hard for him to make friends but he had never met someone truly genuine before. Human contact usually just annoyed him to the point of insanity but this girl was different. It was true she didn't really know him but it seemed as though she really wanted to. Sasuke smiled a small smile. _"Great Sasuke, now you're letting people get to know you. What's next? Letting Naruto beat you at video games?"_

Picking up his things Sasuke walked slowly by Kakashi who was reading his little orange book. Before he was out the door Sasuke mumbled, "Pervert."

Kakashi just snickered and continued to read before noticing a young blonde student burst through the door. What was she doing here? She wasn't in his class. Sighing and standing up, Kakashi left as well.

**_A/N:_** Yes, Ino has in fact turned to the path of jealousy. I did jump around with the time in this chapter but by the end, everyone is in the same time of day. As requested by the person who inspired this story, next chapter will be all messages. I think this will be a good way to show passage of time and get more feelings in there. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed, and I'm sorry if I don't update quickly.


	5. Strictly Information

**_A/N: _**Hi everyone! Sorry this took so long to get out. To make up for it, this is a relatively long chapter. Like I said last chapter, this chapter will be all messages so we can keep things interesting and show the passage of time. Please enjoy.

**(Sasuke)**_ (Sakura)_

**_Disclaimer: _**Getting really old now.

Chapter 5: Strictly Information

**Ms S.- I suppose I could forgive you. You seem like the typical  
hearts and flowers high school girl. That's…great. Please don't  
decide to tell me you decorated your room with stars and fuzzy  
bunnies. I swear I'll lose my lunch. Our pervert teacher wouldn't  
like that too much. **

**1. What is your greatest achievement?  
I have too many to pick one**

**2. What are some of your favorite things to do?  
Sleeping, sitting in quiet, kicking ass in all I do**

**3. Name three traits you like about yourself.  
I already said I have too many to pick one**

**4. One thing you love more than anything else.  
Sleep**

**5. One thing you hate more than anything else.  
My brother**

**6. Your dream car.  
Ferrari. Black. **

_Dark Flame- Well excuse me if I'm not all arrogant and morbid like  
you. No, I didn't decorate my room in such a disgusting fashion. Only  
cheerleaders like junk like that. Believe me, one of my friends is a  
cheerleader. They drive me insane._

_1. What are you thinking about right now?  
What I'm going to say next_

_2. Can you drive yet?  
I can but I don't have my license yet_

_3. Special Interests.  
Shinobi, I know it's old history but it's cool_

_4. Master plan to torture Kakashi.  
Destroy that perverted orange book_

_5. If you could change anything about yourself it would be…  
My forehead_

_6. Feel like ditching the rest of school yet?  
I wish I could_

**Ms. S- I am not morbid and am very far from arrogant. I am  
just confident in my skills. So you like pink but hate cheerleaders  
even though your friend is one. How did that work? They give  
me problems. You do NOT want to give me problems.**

**1. What are you thinking about right now?  
How to shut Kakashi up**

**2. Can you drive yet?  
Yes**

**3. Special Interests.  
Shinobi, you too huh? Didn't know girls liked that stuff **

**4. Master plan to torture Kakashi.  
Make him watch me destroy his collection of perverted orange  
books and set his hair on fire**

**5. If you could change anything about yourself it would be…  
Nothing**

**6. Feel like ditching the rest of school yet?  
Felt that way the moment I got here**

_Dark Flame- Yeah, I guess most girls don't like history and stuff  
that has to do with fighting. I'm not like most girls. All those  
theories about advanced training, mind control, and chakra  
manipulation is so cool. Well, if it was real it would be cool. I  
hate when historians mix fact with legend. Oh and I've known  
my cheerleading friend forever. Plus you just proved you were  
arrogant with that statement. _

_1. Common misconceptions about you.  
I'm all hearts and flowers_

_2. First random thought that comes to mind.  
Chocolate is magical_

_3. Konoha Leaf High should really be called:  
The Society for Stupid Children_

_4. A guy walks into a bar and says:  
Ouch…sorry I had to say it, I'm bored_

_5. Preferred choice of communication.  
Cell Phone_

_6. iPod or CD player?  
I really want an iPod but I'm stuck with the old crap  
for now_

**Ms. S- Fine, believe what you want to about me. I  
really could care less. So you know something about  
shinobi…interesting. It's all true, none of that is just  
legend. **

**1. Common misconceptions about you.  
I'm arrogant, like to talk, and need help**

**2. First random thought that comes to mind.  
How can I kill my brother?**

**3. Konoha Leaf High should really be called:  
Hell**

**4. A guy walks into a bar and says:  
no comment**

**5. Preferred choice of communication.  
I prefer not to  
**

**6. iPod or CD player?  
iPod**

_Dark Flame- If you don't like talking so much, why bother  
talking to me? You could have completely ignored this. You  
seem like you hate your brother to an extreme amount. I  
don't have siblings but I've heard they're annoying. However,  
what did he do to you?_

_1. Special shinobi skill you'd want.  
To heal others with large amounts of chakra_

_2. Favorite word.  
Sakura_

_3. Favorite shinobi weapon.  
Kunai_

_4. Little known fact about you.  
I'm relatively strong physically and emotionally_

_5. Favorite genre of movie or book?  
Romantic comedy_

_6. Uh…you can come up with something to ask._

**Ms. S- Same reason you wrote on your desk. Once  
again you're getting into personal space. However, let's  
just say he deserves it for getting praise he doesn't  
deserve, being a sick person, and ruining my life. If you  
met him you'd think he was far more arrogant then you  
claim me to be. Appreciate the fact you are sibling-less. They  
are just unneeded emotional ties.**

**1. Special shinobi skill you'd want.  
Heard of the sharingan? Sounds perfect.**

**2. Favorite word.  
Stupid: fits most everything **

**3. Favorite shinobi weapon.  
Windmill shuriken**

**4. Little known fact about you.  
I don't like sweets, including chocolate**

**5. Favorite genre of movie or book?  
Action/Adventure or thriller**

**6. Are you actually retaining any of this information?**

_Dark Flame- Do you mean the info about you or the algebra? I  
SO can't remember any of Kakashi's drabble. Yes, I do seem to  
recall most of your answers. Why wouldn't I? You're my only form  
of life I have in this black hole I'm sitting in, even if you are very  
arrogant. You don't know how lonely it is with no siblings, parents  
working all the time, and my friends gone when I need them. I  
can't think of any more random questions to ask you…_

**Ms. S- You have no idea what it's like to be truly alone. Have you  
ever been the only one in your whole house for days on end? Have  
you ever had nothing to eat and had to deal with it? That is being  
alone. Algebra, I do it because I want to leave this place. College is my  
only way out. I refuse to go to community college because it's too  
close…and for other reasons. I seem to remember what you've said too.**

_Dark Flame- No, I've never been that alone. You seem like you would love  
those conditions seeing as you don't like human contact and one of your  
favorite things is quiet. What is so wrong that you hate where you live?  
Once again, sorry if that is "too personal" but it's kind of creeping me out.  
Anyway, do you have any friends at all? How do you survive? _

**Ms. S- You pretty much just described why other people bother me so  
much. People just don't understand me. It is true that exerting energy  
on things like talking bother me but being completely alone, no one should  
have to go through that. I would tell you why I hate this place but I just  
don't trust you enough yet. Yes, I do in fact have friends. Gasp! If my  
personality is scaring you, don't talk to me.**

_Dark Flame- You know I have no one better to talk to. You pretty much  
have a problem no one can solve. You hate human contact but dislike  
being alone. I really can't help you there. All I can say is you should open  
up more to people. I mean you barely knew who I was and yet you opened up  
to me. Was that so hard? Come on, everyone likes company, even you. You  
should trust me by now._

**Ms. S- Why thank you Dr. S for your personal diagnosis of my  
predicament. How much do I owe you for that riveting psychiatry session?  
Do you really care that much about what went on with me? I can choose  
who I want to talk to and who I don't. Like I said before, boredom is the  
only thing keeping this going. Don't forget that. **

_Dark Flame- Ha ha ha very funny. So you do have a sense of humor? That's new.  
Since I've been talking to you for so long now, yes I do care to know what happened.  
That is, if anything really did happen. It is kind of strange that you are so dark. I mean  
you seem like the average teenage boy but there is this…thing about you. It's kind of  
familiar actually. I don't believe you about why you keep talking. I think you do want  
someone to talk to other than yourself. (:P)_

**Ms. S- Trying to be cute huh? Yes, I do in fact laugh although  
it's very rare. You have caused me to with some of your responses  
though. Okay so not only am I arrogant and morbid but you think  
I'm dark now? That's nice to know. I seem familiar to you? If you  
are lucky, I mean REALLY lucky, I just may give you an inkling as  
to who I am. Basically, let me give you an idea of what "happened".  
My parents both died and left my brother and me when I was younger.  
There, happy? Don't you dare start spewing crap about being sorry.  
I don't need your sympathy. **

_Dark Flame- Well, at least I can understand you a little better now. I don't  
want to anger you so I'll just leave it be. In short, that sucks a lot. I'm glad  
you told me. I really and truly am happy that we're talking. Kakashi is  
getting to the point where I'm going to jab my pencil through his skull. Care  
to join me?_

**Ms. S- I don't tell that to most people, consider yourself lucky. Yes, my  
life sucks, thank you for reminding me. You still pay attention to the  
pervert? I stopped that long ago. Now that I've revealed something about  
myself I think you owe me some information yourself. After all, we're supposed  
to trust each other right? Yeah, I think I will join you in the pencil jabbing  
as long as I get to stab him first.**

_Dark Flame- Let's see, people teased me all my life about my forehead and that  
cheerleader friend I told you about, she rescued me from social suicide quite a  
few times. So I'm not all peachy and perfect like I may seem. I only see my parents  
in the morning and otherwise they're big pains. I can promise you that you'd be  
wishing they were gone right about now. Once again, I am very happy you kept  
talking to me. These little messages are something to look forward to, you know?_

**Ms. S- Yeah, I guess you're right. Still, there are times when I wish more then  
anything else that they were still here. My father was a very powerful person.  
He'd keep my bastard of a brother in line. I think we should take all the  
cheerleaders in the world, put them in a room with Kakashi, and burn his  
books along with them. Oh yes, that would be beautiful. **

_Dark Flame- You know, after summer school is over, you think we could be…you  
know, friends? Even if you ended up being the biggest loser and gothic kid in  
school, I'd still talk to you. We have this common hatred of summer school and  
everything. Plus we know a ton about each other now. What'd you say? Please?  
Just tell me who you are or give me your e-mail or something so we can keep  
talking.  
_

**Ms. S- You say "you know" a lot. I guess we could keep talking. I don't see  
why not. What do you mean I'd be a loser gothic kid? Is that seriously how  
I come across to you? Great, another thing to add to the list of things you think  
about me. How do I know you're not actually a cheerleader? I hate those  
preppy freaks with all my being. I hate them almost as much as I hate my bro.  
Still, give me a few more days to think about it. If you found out who I was  
I think you'd flip.**

_Dark Flame- Oh come on. I don't think those things about you. Stop being whiny.  
No I am not calling you whiny. I thought you'd be tougher than that. I AM NOT  
a cheerleader. That would insult everything I represent. I think we should  
keep talking. Oh, and who could you possibly be that would make me so crazy?  
The guy of my dreams? You kind of sound like him but I doubt you'd be him. He's  
too smart to be in a class like this. Plus he wouldn't bother writing back in the  
first place anyway. Not even if he was bored to tears._

**Ms. S- I am way tougher than you'd ever be. So who is this guy anyway?  
Not that I care but you never know.**

_Dark Flame- Oh you wish. Like I'd tell you. That's one secret I'll never tell._

**Ms. S- Fine, I won't give you my e-mail until you tell me who he is.**

_Dark Flame- That is SO not fair. Now you're invading my personal space. I  
refuse to tell you._

**Ms. S- You'll tell me. You are going to want to talk to me so bad, you'll be  
so curious as to who I am, that you'll tell me. **

_Dark Flame- Is that a challenge? We'll have to see what happens._

* * *

**_A/N: _**Oh yes, we will have to see what happens. This chapter was pretty difficult. I tried to keep them in character as best as I could with progression of the amounts of info they gave out. Basically, they have about a week left of Summer school now. I'll update as soon as I can. Please review! 


	6. One Final Note

**_A/N IMPORTANT: _**People keep asking the time that went by. All you really need to know is that there are five weeks of summer school and they are in the final week. I counted exact days as I went along. No, the story doesn't end after that :)

THANK YOU FOR BEING SO PATIENT! THIS IS A NICE LONG CHAPTER FOR YOU!

"_Thoughts_" "Speech" "**Writing**"

**_Disclaimer: _**I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 6: One Final Note

Sakura was once again extremely excited. Not only was it the final week of the torture she was experiencing but she had also become really close with this new person in her life. Her one dilemma was she had no idea what step to take next. She didn't want to expose her deepest darkest secret to some random guy. However, if she didn't, she would never be able to further contact him.

She was both right and wrong about her first thoughts on this mystery guy. He wasn't a psychopathic freak but he did have some depressing things going on in his life. However, she wasn't completely perfect herself. Maybe if she found out who the person was, when school started, she could try to make him a happier person. He didn't seem _all_ bad. There had to be some happiness in him. Besides, he seemed to take great pleasure in talking about himself and his skills.

Sakura was actually slightly thankful she had taken this horrible class. In the long run, it should help her be a smarter person and maybe get a good job. She also made a new friend. The time she had wasted doing homework packets and listening to Kakashi drabble would be worth it.

Walking to school the next morning Sakura had only one thing in her mind, _"What am I going to do? I can't expose my secret now! If I don't I'm screwed anyway! Ahhhhh!"_ Once Sakura got to class she sat down and took out her materials. She decided not to worry about her problem until toward the end of class. She had to be able to look forward to something.

-TAP-

-TAP TAP-

-TAP TAP TAP TAP-

"Ms. Haruno!" yelled Kakashi.

Sakura snapped out of her trance and glanced forward. "What?"

"Do you mind? I'm trying to teach class!"

"Wow Kakashi-sensei, you seem really irritated."

"I have a headache and need to finish class. Could you please stop that tapping?"

Sakura realized she had fallen into a trance and had begun to tap her pencil. Tapping her pencil seemed to take up most of her time presently. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"Can I continue with the class now?"

"Yes you may Kakashi-sensei."

"Good, now pay attention."

"I will." Sakura stuck her tongue out slightly after Kakashi had turned around to write on the board. _"What in the world is he so upset about? Kakashi never gets upset and even if he is, he stays calm. Does he have girlfriend problems? No, he's too stupid for anyone to want to be around him."_

Slowly but surely, time ticked on and Sakura had to make her choice. She pulled out that lined sheet of paper in that very familiar part of the bottom of her desk. Sakura and her partner in crime had completely filled up that single sheet of paper. There was absolutely no room left to write down random thoughts or feelings. Sakura smiled to herself as she folded the paper and placed it in her backpack. She wanted to keep it as a reminder of the small amount of fun she had during the summer. Besides, boys don't generally like to keep things like these.

Sakura took out a brand new sheet of paper and stared blankly at it. It looked so completely plain compared to the other sheet. However, Sakura was determined to change that as soon as she could think of something to write. Because they still had four days left, Sakura decided she would take all that time and use it to her advantage. Deciding not to reveal her secret just yet, she would tease a little before she got to the point. Dark Flame happened to be arrogant and sensitive. Having a little fun with him wouldn't be so bad.

Sakura finished writing just as the bell rang. She folded up her little message, slid it under the desk, and proceeded to file out the door with the other students. However, when she got to the door she stopped abruptly. Something inside of her wanted to talk to Kakashi. There was obviously something not right with the world if Kakashi was emitting an aura other than boring. _"Well, "boring" isn't exactly a feeling one can emit but I think somehow it fits with him."_

Sakura walked up to Kakashi's desk and waited patiently for him to notice her.

"Is there a problem Ms. Haruno?"

"No Kakashi-sensei, there is not. I just wanted to know if you were okay."

Kakashi looked up at her and smiled. "I did snap at you a bit didn't I? How uncharacteristic of me. Don't worry it's not your fault. I'm just a little more tired than usual that's all."

"You don't have to worry, you only have four days left."

"Yes, that is true."

"What will you do with yourself when classes are over?"

Kakashi winked at Sakura. "That is my secret."

Sakura gasped in a joking manner. "What? You won't expose the secret lives of teachers?"

"Nope, I can't do that. Students will have to sit and contemplate what they believe teachers do for all of eternity. It's just the way the world works."

"Okay Kakashi-sensei, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodbye Sakura."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sasuke slowly dragged his feet step by step until he reached the front door of his math class. Just four more days, four more days and he would never have to worry about it again. Still, there really wasn't much to look forward to after this was all over. Neji still wouldn't come back for a few weeks and even sitting in total darkness at home could satisfy him for only so long. Naruto was not going to be much help in making the rest of his summer more fantastic than the direction it was already headed in.

Sasuke had changed a little in the past four weeks. At the start of classes he was his usual arrogant self who hated life and everything in it. Now, he was still his arrogant self, but things seemed a little less dark. Talking out his problems informally really helped him out whether he wanted to believe it or not. He didn't realize that he would come to rely on the this person he'd never met for company. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't accept the fact that this person could disappear. Even if she didn't tell him her secret, Sasuke would continue talking to Ms. S.

As soon as Sasuke got through the door a very familiar blonde greeted him.

"Hey Sasuke!" shouted Naruto from across the room.

Sasuke put his mask of indifference on and just stared at his friend. He may not be as cold as his brother, but the skill of having a look of indifference did run through the family. When Sasuke got to his seat, Naruto continued to talk in his usual chatty manner.

"Can you believe it Sasuke? We only got four days left! No more homework!"

"Did you forget school starts in a few months? Oh wait, you never do your homework anyway."

"Awe, you're so mean to me," pouted Naruto.

Sasuke smirked. "You just realized this now? You really are stupid."

"Fine, I'm not going to talk to you anymore."

"Good."

Kakashi got up from his seat and walked up to the front of the class. He called out answers to homework in a usual fashion and answered some questions. Naruto surprisingly didn't ask Sasuke for his packet. He just didn't care about the homework anymore. Sasuke sighed and became bored very quickly. He had a nagging feeling inside of him that wouldn't go away and he knew exactly why it was there. However, he wanted to prolong what he wanted to do so his one happy moment for the day wouldn't be wasted. As time went on the feeling got worse and worse, and eventually Sasuke gave up and pulled out the sheet from under his desk.

"_What? This sheet is practically blank. Where'd the other one go? Did someone steal it? No, she probably just took it for herself. God she's stupid, maybe I should ask her to photocopy it."_ Sasuke felt somewhat saddened at the fact it was a new piece of paper. The other one was a constant reminder of all the emotions he had felt and exposed to his mystery friend. He had finally opened up to someone, and every one of those messages was proof of it. Yet now, there was only a single message on a new sheet of paper. It was like the other sheet had never happened.

**Dark Flame- So you want to know my secret? I don't think I'll be  
telling you today. I have four days to do so and I'm going to take  
all the time I have. Maybe I can get you to tell me your e-mail  
without exposing it. You were right, I may want to contact you so  
bad that I'll tell you. However, you may want to keep in touch with  
me so bad that I won't have to. How about we make a deal? I will  
give you my full name and my e-mail. Then you can decide whether  
or not to continue speaking to me. I know you will so don't pretend that  
you won't. This summer has been…well, okay. If we do meet at  
school, we can talk about something more interesting, like shinobi.  
It's amazing you are into that as well. Let me know if you'll go  
through with this deal.**

Sasuke thought about what Ms. S had said. He didn't want to push her to the point that no contact information was given. He decided what she said seemed pretty fair. It gave him the choice whether to contact her or not, but he would. If he didn't then he'd probably fall apart. This dependency was driving him mad but there really was no other person who could truly talk to with the exception of Neji and Naruto.

Quickly writing back a short answer to the message, Sasuke shoved the paper back underneath his desk and waited for class to end. Class took a very long time to end and when it had, Sasuke was asleep. He bolted up when the bell rang and took a few seconds to realize where he was. He hadn't slept well the night before and math class seemed like the perfect time to doze off. As Sasuke walked out of class he couldn't stop thinking about what his friend would say. Who was she? It was all a matter of time before he found out.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o-FRIDAY-MORNING-o0o0o0o0o0o0**

It was the last day. There would be no more homework for the rest of the summer and it would be Sakura's last time writing on that paper below the desk. It had all started out with just a few simple words and had grown into so much more than that. Today was the day she was going to reveal who she was after these five weeks of keeping it a secret. From the time she left home to the time she got to school she was almost shaking uncontrollably with excitement. Although there was small shadow of doubt in the back of her mind that Dark Flame would not contact her back, she was otherwise extremely happy.

Sakura practically skipped into class.

Kakashi looked up from his orange book. "I didn't know you'd be that happy about the end of summer school Ms. Haruno."

"Oh, I'm not excited about that. Well, yes I am but that's not the only reason."

"Really? You are here about ten minutes early so something fantastic must have happened to you."

Sakura looked at the clock on the wall. Kakashi was right. She was ten minutes early. _"Man I'm dumb, why come to this stupid class early? Guess I am a little too perky today."_

Kakashi just shook his head and continued to read his book. Some things would remain a mystery to him. Students did the strangest things.

Sakura sat down at her desk, opened her backpack, and took out a pencil. There would be no waiting for what she came to do. Writing this message was the only thing she cared about. She had worked very hard all summer and would probably pass the class. Now the only goal was to get her last message down on paper. Sakura was all ready to start writing away. Dark Flame had agreed with her on the deal she came up with. Still, there was a bittersweetness to the whole thing. It would be her _last_ one so she wanted to somehow make is special and cherish the moment. Of course if they kept talking they'd continue to write, but this would be the last one at summer school.

**Dark Flame- Wow, we did it. We survived without having to kill  
Kakashi or commit suicide. I don't know how we did it but we did. I  
hope you pass the class. Then we can all go on with our lives and  
be happy people. Well in your case, you can continue being dark and  
hating life. Just kidding. I'm so happy we did this. I really enjoyed  
every moment of it. It makes me sad that this will be it, but then again  
I think it's time to end the secrecy. My e-mail is: pinkhairedbeauty-konoha:com  
Talk to me soon. Even if you are occasionally tempermental, you  
really have become a good friend. Thanks and I hope the rest of your  
summer is okay!**

**-Haruno Sakura**

By the time Sakura had finished her message and put it under the desk for the final time students were just finishing piling into class. The strange quiet boy that always sat next to Sakura looked at her a long time before he pulled out his materials. She stared back at him and decided to speak to him since she would never have the chance to again.

"Um, excuse me? Are you Aburame Shino?" asked Sakura shyly.

Shino merely turned toward her and nodded.

"Do you ever take off your sun glasses?"

"No." he said quietly.

"Are you part of a family of spies?"

"What kind of question is that?" he whispered.

"I don't know, I've just wondered all this time now since you never take off your glasses and always wear a hood."

Shino lowered his glasses just an inch so she could see his eyes. "I don't make strange assumptions about you. Anyway, I have to pay attention now."

"Oh, sorry," said Sakura. She cast her gaze toward the ground but as she did so she could have sworn she saw a beetle crawl out of his shirtsleeve and under his hand. She waved it off.

During the last five minutes of class Kakashi went behind his desk and pulled out a stack of cards from the drawer. He shuffled them a few times and then began calling names for students to pick them up. Those cards happened to determine the futures of each of the students. All summer came down to this one card they received. If their report stated _fail_, all their hard work was for absolutely nothing.

"Haruno Sakura," called Kakashi.

Sakura gulped and then walked to the front of the class. Kakashi smiled as he handed her the report card.

Sakura looked down at her card. Printed on it was all her student information but in the box titled "score" there was a large letter "P." What Kakashi had written under the teacher's comments suprised her a little bit.

**Sakura, you did a fantastic job this summer. You were definitely one of my hardest working students.  
I'm proud of you for diligently doing your homework every night. Even if you were writing little  
secrets to your friends during my class, I still think you deserve this score. Yes, I do know about that.  
It is my classroom so expect me to be able to see all that goes on. **

"_Wow Kakashi-sensei. You really had me fooled. I thought you had no idea what was going on. Hopefully you didn't read what I wrote though!"_ After all the report cards were passed out Kakashi started to speak again.

"Students, the grade which you received is the grade you earned. If you consistently did good work in my class then you passed. For those of you who slept rather than took advantage of the situation, you failed. There are no changes in the grade you received so if your parents flip it is not my fault. I am very happy to have had the privilege of being your teacher and I wish you all luck in the coming year. Thank you for being such a great class. I know it was early in the morning but I'm glad some of you managed to learn something."

-Tick-Tick-Tick-RING-

"Class dismissed," said Kakashi. With that he walked around to the other side of his desk and picked up his book. Only one more class for the day and he'd be able to go home.

Students exploded out of the classroom in all directions screaming shouts of utter joy and happiness. Others immediately took out their phones and called their parents to report how they did. Some looked extremely sick and to the point of tears. Sakura felt bad for these students. _"What an awful waste of summer if you didn't pass."_

Before Sakura left she stopped by Kakashi's desk one final time.

"Kakashi-sensei, how did you figure out what I was doing?"

"What do you mean Sakura?"

"You know, about writing messages to my friends?"

"Well, I happened to notice you bend under your desk for long periods of time toward the end of each class. Since most students are asleep it's esay to notice the ones who move."

Sakura swallowed hard. "Oh, did you uh…happen to um, read any of them?"

Kakashi winked at her. "No, I respect your privacy and the act of having a little fun. Did you know who you were writing to?"

"No I didn't. Want to give me a hint?"

"I don't think I will. However, if you do find out I bet you will be very surprised."

"Really? Well, okay. Thanks so much for everything Kakashi-sensei."

"Have a great summer Sakura."

As soon as Sakura got home she threw her backpack on the floor of her room and started jumping up and down. There would be no more homework packets for at least another month. Sakura flopped down on her bed. She was just about to go to sleep when she realized she should call Ino and tell her the news. Sakura picked up the phone and dialed Ino's number.

"Hello?"

"Ino! It's Sakura."

"Yes I can see that. What do you want?"

"Well, for one thing I passed summer school."

"Wow, you do have a brain behind that big forehead."

"Ha ha ha, very funny Ino-pig."

"Anything else? I have practice to go to."

"Well, I told Dark Flame who I was."

"Who are you talking about?"

"You know, that guy I was writing messages to on my desk?"

Ino didn't speak for a long time.

"Ino, Ino are you there?"

"Yeah...yeah sorry. What did you tell him?"

"Oh, I just finished up our conversation and then gave him contact information so he'd be able to reach me after summer school."

"Do you know who he is?" asked Ino.

"No, I don't. I think he'll want to talk to me so badly that he will e-mail me. He is a very complicated person, kind of dark, slightly arrogant, but he seems like he just needs a friend. I think he found that in me. It's funny since he sounds so much like Sasuke, but I know it couldn't be him in a million years.

"Wow, he told you a lot. Did you write this all on one desk?"

"No, we started to write on a sheet of paper and put it underneath the desk, between the bar and the bottom. That way we could write more stuff. Turns out Kakashi-sensei knew we were doing it, but he didn't read anything so we're okay."

"You must have filled up your paper with five weeks of summer school."

"We did! I had to get a new sheet. I kept the old one if you ever want to look at it."

"Cute…" said Ino mockingly.

"Ino, are you okay? You don't sound to happy."

"I'm fine. Listen Sakura, I have to leave so I'll call you back later."

"Okay, bye."

"See ya."

Sakura hung up her phone, threw it to the edge of her bed, and promptly went to sleep. She deserved a good rest after all the school she had to go through. Finally she might be able to enjoy summer.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Ino's mind was racing. There was no way she was going to let Sakura find out who Dark Flame was. If Sakura and Sasuke got together it would be the end of the world for her. Sakura may be her best friend but she wasn't going to let just anyone get with Sasuke. Plus, Sakura probably now knew more about Sasuke than she did and that was definitely not okay. She had to get to that note before he did.

She rushed to school as fast as possible because she knew she didn't have a lot of time. The next class would start in only a matter of minutes. Ino ran all the way to the classroom door and sighed in relief that no one was there. Kakashi must have been in the bathroom or getting coffee. Ino hurried into the classroom and ran over the desk she remembered Sasuke sat at. _"I already knew where Sakura kept her little notes. It was nice for her to remind me though. Takes less time to find."_ Ino bent down, grabbed the piece of paper under the desk and hurried out.

As she was leaving the school she caught sight of the boy who occupied her fantasies. He was walking his usual casual strut to the school. She decided to try Sakura's method of catching his attention by standing in his way. However, rather than stopping, Sasuke just walked around her. Ino turned around and glared angrily into his back. She watched him go all the way to the front of the school through the gate.

Ino's anger did fade and became replaced by extreme glee. She had taken Sakura's only contact to Sasuke. When Sakura didn't receive any new e-mails from a certain person, she'd become sad and believe the guy never liked her. Yes, it was true Sakura never knew the person was Sasuke, but it still made Ino feel better that she had no chance of finding out now. He would eventually get over his little friend he made during summer school and all would be well. Ino threw the note into the trashcan and continued walking down sidewalk feeling extremely pleased with herself.

Sasuke sat at his desk with a mortified look on his face. He had passed the class and Kakashi informed him that he had known about what Sasuke had been doing all summer. However, that didn't matter to him at all. All that mattered was there was nothing on or under the desk. He must have scanned the bottom of all the other desks around him and didn't find anything. He felt angry, almost to the point of tears. Why would Ms. S abandon him like this? She seemed so happy in her other messages and somewhat appreciative. She even recognized how much he needed her to talk to. So why had this happened?

"_Maybe Kakashi found it and took it. I am so going to kill him if he did." _ Sasuke spent the last few agonizing minutes of class glaring daggers at Kakashi. As soon as the bell rang Naruto attempted to pull him out of class but he told his friend to wait for him outside. Naruto protested but something in his mind told him to listen to Sasuke or else there would be consequences.

Sasuke walked up to Kakashi. "Where is it sensei?" he asked angrily.

"What are you talking about Mr. Uchiha?"

"I know you found our note, where did you put it?"

"Ah, I didn't touch it. I saw your companion put it under her desk. She asked me about it. You should be happy to know that I have read none of your notes, I only know they exist."

"But it's not there. WHERE is it?"

"Sasuke stop yelling at me. It should be where you always put it. I saw her do it today. Don't ask me to tell you who it is because I won't. That would ruin it for the both of you."

"It's not there. I've looked everywhere. There's nothing even on the desk. If _you_ don't have it then it _obviously_ didn't get up and leave by itself."

"I'm sorry Sasuke, I don't know what happened. Maybe she didn't write anything. Have a good summer okay?"

Sasuke had a flash of shock go across his face. He didn't know what to say. He just felt passionate anger inside of him. He turned around, found Naruto, and stormed out of the school. The rest of the summer would be a nightmare.

* * *

**_A/N:_ **So now we know the purpose of Ino. She's an evil person isn't she? I thank you all for being patient. This was a nice long chapter and I'm glad I took my time and didn't rush it. If I don't update again for another few months, I'm sorry. I know EXACTLY what I want to write but it may take a while since I am so busy. This was REALLY hard to get out. I will finish this story eventually, please stop spamming me, and please review. If you have any questions, ask away. Thanks, and I hope you enjoyed! 


	7. Increased Tension

_**A/N:**_ I've ranted and I'm done. This has a ton of new drama. So if you thought the heat was building, just wait. I got VERY emotional writing this chapter. Enjoy!

"_Thoughts_" "Speech" "**Writing**"

_**Disclaimer: **_I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 7: Increased Tension

What should have been the happiest moment of Sasuke's life went in a completely different direction. He had made it. He finished that God-forsaken class he was made to do. However, the only girl he had ever let into his life had been taken away in an instant. He must have gone crazy looking for a piece of paper that obviously wasn't there. Sasuke tried so hard to think that maybe some other student had found it or that it had gotten lost. He didn't want to believe that Ms. S had just given up on him. He'd been let down too many times before and was getting sick of it. Now there was just a month left of freedom before school started again. This freedom wouldn't really be the liberation Sasuke wanted, but more dread.

Sasuke lay on his bead, staring up at the ceiling. It was one o'clock in the morning and for some reason he couldn't sleep. Itachi had been gone for days again. God knows where his older brother was lurking. Sasuke thought about all the things he would probably need to do in the following days. Maybe he'd find a job so he wouldn't have to rely on his brother for food. He'd become accustomed to being hungry, but he really wanted to get his life in order. "_I seriously need to get out of this dump. Maybe I should move in with Naruto for a while. Nah, I'm not that desperate. He'd probably drive me to kill myself." _Sasuke silently laughed. Neji would be home within the next few weeks. He'd want to hear all about what Sasuke had been doing. As much as Sasuke hated to admit it, he truly believed talking to Neji helped somewhat. Neji had taken the position of group psychiatrist when they were younger. It seemed he could see through everyone, and looks inside of them to find what their problems are.

Sasuke rolled over on to his stomach. He put his pillow over his head and shut his eyes tightly. As soon as he started to doze off he heard a loud crash at the front door. Sasuke threw off his covers and bolted out of his room. He was very used to moving around in the dark, so he got to the living room quickly. It was then he noticed two forms on his couch whispering to each other. Sasuke made a move to turn on the light switch, but something grabbed his arm. Even in the dark he could see the piercing eyes of his older brother, and wasn't surprised Itachi had moved so quickly.

"Don't turn the light on. Get back to your room, _now._"

"Itachi, what the hell is going on?"

"Shut up and get out of here," Itachi said harshly. Although his voice was soft it cut through the tension in the air like daggers. He never once loosened his iron grip on Sasuke.

Sasuke was about to go back when a thought crossed him. _"When do I ever listen to my brother?"_ He stood still but in seconds found that was a huge mistake. A horrible sting ran through the side of Sasuke's face, causing his eyes to water as he landed hard on the floor.

"Foolish little brother, I told you to leave. You didn't listen. You _made_ me hit you. Now _go._"

Sasuke got up slowly. "Not until you tell me what the hell is going on! It's my house too you know!"

"Itachi, I hate to interrupt the torture of your brother but…" said a gravely voice.

"How much longer can you hold on Kisame?" asked Itachi flatly.

"Maybe a few hours, but then I'll be out stone cold for sure," Kisame answered quietly. "Maybe the little pest can help us."

Itachi smirked evilly. "I suppose he can." He bent down, grabbed Sasuke by the shirt, and thrust him up against the wall. The light switch was pushing a hole into Sasuke's back. "If you _don't_ help us I'll make sure even the police won't find you."

Sasuke winced in pain. This wasn't the first time one of Itachi's gang, Akatsuki, had come over for a visit. Why was his place always their safe house? They were one of the top leaders in crime in the city, so police were always after them. However, no one knew one of their strongest members was a blood relative of Sasuke. No one knew that Itachi, former golden boy, was truly a cold-blooded killer.

"Fine…bastard," Sasuke mumbled.

"Good," Itachi stated. He dragged Sasuke over to the couch and dropped him on the floor.

Sasuke looked down at the large man that lay on his couch. He had sharp, angular features and dyed blue hair. The small amount of light in the room cast an eerie glow over his hulking form. Sasuke's eyes wandered to a spot on the side of his torso. Kisame was bleeding very badly and breathing harsh breaths.

"What happened to him?" Sasuke whispered. Even though Itachi had other "friends" come over before, none of those experiences were as severe as this one.

"None of your business," replied Itachi.

"What do you want me to do?" asked Sasuke feeling very irritated and slightly sick from the smell of blood.

"Go find some bandages," spat Itachi. It was rare to see any form of emotion from him, so Sasuke knew it was a serious situation.

"Is he going to die?"

"He will if you don't move your ass already. I'll make you regret it if he does."

Sasuke edged slowly away from the couch and ran to the kitchen. He threw open all the cabinets and opened all the drawers. When he didn't find anything he went to the bathroom. He silently prayed he'd find something for Kisame. Sasuke quickly found some gauze and tape in their medicine cabinet. He ran it back to Itachi.

"Here Itachi, take it."

Itachi took the supplies from his hands and quickly bandaged up his partner. Unfortunately, Kisame kept bleeding.

"Itachi, I think we should call the hospital," said Sasuke almost frantically.

"No, we can't do that. I'll just bring him back to our headquarters."

"He'll bleed to death on the way there!"

Itachi glared so sharply at Sasuke that he could have sworn something stabbed him. "When did you start caring foolish little brother?"

Sasuke decided to back down. Police sirens sounded by their house and no one moved a muscle until they had faded away. Sasuke looked at his brother's companion one last time before quietly walking back to his room and shutting the door. He leaned against the back of his door and slid down to the floor. Tears itched to fall from the rims of his eyes but he held them back. _"There's no point in being upset now. Soon they'll be gone."_

Sasuke awoke to the sound of pounding on his door. He got up and opened it. Standing in mid-knock was his blonde haired energy ball of a friend. Sasuke smirked at how messy Naruto looked. It looked like he had crawled out of that pile of trash he was living in and came straight over without cleaning up.

"What do you want loser?" asked Sasuke.

"Summer school is over, let's do something fun!"

"I don't do fun."

"Let's do something dark and depressing!"

Sasuke socked his friend in the arm.

"Ow, what was that for?"

"Being stupid. Now get out of my face. I need to change."

"Okay, I'll just go sit on your couch and watch TV."

Sasuke's eyes widened and his stomach made a small flip. "Wait! Don't!"

"Woah, you don't have to yell. Why not?"

"Um…the TV is broken."

"No way! It can't be broken! I have programs that need to be watched!"

"Sucks to be you then doesn't it?" Sasuke slamed the door in his friend's face.

"Sasuke! What am I supposed to do then?"

"Sit on the porch and wait."

"…Okay."

Sasuke took a shower and got dressed. When he stepped outside of his room and walked to the living room, he was horrified by what he saw. Naruto was sitting on the couch, watching some program with scantily clad women. It was the couch and not the women that bothered him. Sasuke ran over and stopped dead in his tracks. The couch and floor were completely clean. There were no bloodstains anywhere. It was as if last night had never happened. Then, Sasuke realized something very important. Although he was a horrible bastard, his brother was incredibly meticulous and didn't do anything without reason. Itachi knew better than to leave the room in the condition it had been in. If anyone had found out what had happened he'd be ruined. Sasuke understood that Itachi had cleaned up only to protect himself, but he was almost glad his brother cared about something.

Breathing out a heavy sigh, Sasuke flopped on to his couch.

"Sasuke you liar, your TV works just fine!"

"I was trying to save you from losing the last pathetic brain cells you have left."

"Hey that's not funny!"

"Yes, it is. Now are we going or not?"

"Sure, right after I finish my program."

"Watch porn on your own time. We're leaving."

"It's not porn!

"Let's go then. You're wasting my time." Sasuke turned off the TV and practically dragged Naruto out the door. He was so happy to get out of his house.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sakura sat on a bench in the park near her house. Her parents had been so happy that she passed summer school that they agreed to buy her an iPod. It made her ecstatic that she was getting the one item she wanted more than anything, she had passed summer school, and she had made a new friend. However, she had waited quite a long time and Dark Flame still hadn't responded. It had already been quite a few weeks and there was nothing. As Sakura sat there on the park bench watching kids playing tag and couples lying together on the grass, she wondered about her mysterious companion. Why hadn't he written back? She was so positive he'd continue to contact her. Had she been wrong?

Sakura didn't want to start feeling depressed, so she got up and started to walk home. While she was walking she bumped into a very familiar face. Kakashi was strolling down the park's path, reading the book he always seemed to be reading. Sakura was surprised to see him since she rarely saw teachers outside of school. Apparently they were just ordinary people and not evil demons who lived in their classrooms.

"Hello Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi smiled. "I didn't expect to see you here Ms. Haruno."

"I didn't expect to see you here either! That book is so small. Do you enjoy reading it multiple times?"

Kakashi laughed. "It's part of a series. There are multiple books."

"Oh, are they interesting?"

"Why yes, they are _very_ interesting."

"That's good!" Sakura suddenly became saddened. "Listen Kakashi-sensei. You know how I was writing messages during class? Well, the guy I was writing to hasn't e-mailed me. I'm starting to get worried."

Kakashi shrugged. "Maybe he's on vacation."

"I doubt that. He doesn't seem like the vacationing type."

"Don't worry Sakura, he'll come through. He's a bit stubborn, but I'm sure he'll contact you soon."

Sakura smiled. "Ya, he's _really_ stubborn, and very arrogant. Actually, he got very touchy when I told him that."

"Why am I not surprised?" Kakashi mumbled to himself.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh nothing Sakura. Well, have a nice day and I'll see you later."

"Bye Kakashi-sensei!"

Sakura felt much better after talking to her teacher. For some reason, Kakashi always seemed to say the right things. Yes, he had annoyed her to death but in the long run, he was a good teacher. That math would help her a lot in the coming school year. Hopefully she wouldn't have to be in the predicament that she had ever again. She was an extremely smart girl in all the things she did…except in math of course. _"I suppose all geniuses have one subject they're not good at."_

As Sakura got close to the front door of her house, she felt her cell phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at who it was from. Apparently, Ino was trying to send her a text message even though she was at cheer camp. _"Isn't she busy killing herself in stunts and shouting things? I wonder what she wants."_ Sakura flipped open her phone and looked at her incoming message.

**Temari. OMG you won't ever guess what I did.**

"_What? This message isn't for me. She must have dialed the wrong phone number. Who's Temari? That girl from the other school who's friends with that really creepy guy? How weird!"_ Sakura shut her phone and proceeded to go up to her room. However, her phone started to vibrate again.

**Sakura was making friends with this guy in summer  
school. Why should you care? I'll tell you. **

Sakura was shocked at what she was reading. Ino was obviously making a huge mistake in sending her these messages. However, since they were concerning her she wasn't going to stop Ino from sending them. Not yet. Maybe Ino knew more about Dark Flame than she was letting on. If she did, she was going to have quite a bit of explaining to do.

**Well this guy, aka Dark Flame, was telling her lots  
of stuff about himself. Can you imagine Sakura with a  
boyfriend? I found out who he was for real and I had  
to do something about it.**

Sakura's heart was pounding in her chest. She had no idea how Ino found out who he was. Part of her didn't want to know and the other part was dying to find out. Now she was seriously regretting telling Ino about the whole thing in the first place. She knew Ino would try to get mixed up in her business. Obviously, Ino had succeeded. _"Oh my gosh, that's why Dark Flame hasn't e-mailed me! Ino did something! I can't believe her!"_

**Ya, I took her letter from her so he never got it. I  
know that sounds pretty harsh but I had to do it.  
I mean, Sakura doesn't deserve to be with him any  
more than I do!**

Sakura's heart skipped a beat. Then it skipped another. There was only one guy Ino could possibly be talking about. Only one human on the face of the planet she'd care about to do something as horrible as she did to her best friend. Sakura couldn't believe it. She just couldn't believe it. Uchiha Saskue was 1. In summer school 2. Wrote to her 3. Expressed his true emotions 4. Made contact with somebody! However, Sakura's extreme elation was quickly suppressed because her best friend, the one girl she trusted more than anyone else, would deceive her so badly. Ino completely turned against her, just for a boy. That was as low as someone could get.

**Can you believe Sasuke would talk to someone like  
Sakura? How ridiculous is that? There are so many  
more interesting people out there, so why her? I just  
don't get it. Well, my parents are so gonna kill me if  
I spend any more money on texts. ttyl k? Bye!**

Sakura snapped her phone shut and angrily threw it down on her bed. How could Ino do something like that? Weren't they best friends? Yes, they had argued over Sasuke in the past and even done a few things but this was just cruel. Ino was supposed to help her, not hurt her. Now the only way she'd ever get to talk to Sasuke again was at school, but how would she? She couldn't simply walk up to him and say, "Hi! I'm the girl from the desk, remember me?" He would think she was just another ditzy girl and never speak to her again.

Sakura flopped on her bed and began to cry. She couldn't believe her friend would be so selfish when her chance came to finally be happy. She couldn't believe she had been talking to Sasuke. Most of all, she couldn't believe that she wasn't surprised Ino did something like this. Some small part of her somehow knew that with the right circumstances, Ino could turn on her. That saddened Sakura the most. She was going to confront Ino as soon as she got her emotions in check. It wouldn't be easy, but she had to do it. Sakura really wanted to forgive her, but it was going to be extremely difficult. Unlike Ino, she couldn't ruin a close friendship over a boy. It would be against everything she believed in. Somehow she would contact Sasuke again. Kakashi was right, she was surprised._**  
**_

* * *

_**A/N:**_ NEXT TIME- Neji comes home and Sasuke's got some stuff he needs to say. Sakura confronts Ino. School starts again, and you know what that means… YES I WILL UPDATE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE I PROMISE! I kept the theme of messages with the phone thing. :) Thank you, let me know what you thought. We've got a little intro to what Itachi is really like, he'll be coming back again. Flames will be used to toast my bread. 


	8. We Meet Again

_**A/N:**_ YES IT'S SUMMER I CAN UPDATE FASTER NOW WEEEE! To those of you who were wonderful enough to understand what it's like to be in school and forgive me for my lack of updates, I thank you. To those of you who still find it amusing to use large amounts of obscenities in your reviews and messages, may you die in a fire. Moving on now, the story gets really fired up!

"_Thoughts_" "Speech" "**Writing**"

_**Disclaimer: **_Own Naruto, I do not.

Chapter 8: We Meet Again

Two teens sat on two couches and stared at each other from opposite sides of the living room. One had deep onyx colored eyes and the other's were the exact reverse. His eyes were so light they almost appeared white in coloration. Neither moved a muscle except for the occasional blink in order to keep their eyes from burning from their sockets. Finally, one of the two teens opened his mouth and spoke barely above a whisper.

"Hyuuga."

"Uchiha."

"You've been gone quite a while."

"I have."

Neither spoke for another few minutes. Then each shifted the position they were sitting in, as if playing some sort of game to see who could act the most nonchalant and look the best.

"How was Europe?"

"Beautiful, I had never seen so many amazing things before."

"Oh really?"

"Why yes. How was your summer? Boring?"

Sasuke smirked. "Actually, it wasn't so bad."

"What did you do?"

"Summer school, sleeping, yelling at Naruto and…"

"And?"

"I met someone new."

Neji stared intently at his friend sitting across from him. Those were not words he had expected Sasuke to say. Now he was very interested. "You and getting to know new people does not go together. Are you sure you didn't take up using drugs this summer?"

"Please, that would put me closer to being like my asshole of an older brother, and that is the last thing I'd ever want to do. I know it's surprising, but it's true."

"So, who is this person?"

Sasuke looked outside his window, trying to come up with a good explanation. Neji waited in silence for the Uchiha to respond. They each shifted slightly in their seats once more. Then Sasuke looked up, ready to continue his story.

"During summer school, I noticed some writing on a desk. In order to cultivate my extreme boredom, I replied. To make a long story short, this person and I both came up with aliases for ourselves and answered random questions she came up with."

"_She_? You're not one for associating yourself with women. Last time I checked you were doing all you could to avoid them."

"If you were stuck in that small piece of hell I was in, you probably would have done the same."

"You know I'm far too smart to be in a place like summer school."

Sasuke glared. "Don't push it Hyuuga."

"I'm sorry Uchiha, carry on with your story then."

"After a while, she started getting personal, but for some reason I trusted her. I actually believed I had made a new friend." Sasuke sighed deeply and then looked down at the floor. "On the last day, she told me she'd say who she was and give me her e-mail so I could continue to contact her, but nothing was there. I looked everywhere, and even our stupid teacher said he knew who it was, but…there was nothing."

Neji sat back and became very quiet and still. Even though he had a blank look on his face his brain was working hard. "_Sasuke obviously has a problem, and if it wasn't a problem he probably wouldn't have mentioned it. He rarely opens up to people so this must have hurt him severely."_

"Maybe it's not her fault."

Sasuke's head shot up. "What do you mean?"

"Is it possible there was some sort of interference?"

"I don't think any person except for our teacher knew we were doing this."

"Could the janitor of found something?"

"No. If they hadn't before then why now?"

Neji's face contorted into a look of puzzlement. "Do you know what she looks like?"

"If I did, we wouldn't be having this conversation," mumbled Sasuke.

"So somehow you talked about your lives and personal interests without giving away what you looked like or who you were?"

"Wow, I guess there really is no person smarter than you," scoffed Sasuke.

"Do you want my help or not Uchiha?"

"…"

"Fine then," stated Neji.

Suddenly, two loud gurgling sounds surged through the quiet room. Both the teens looked up at each other and smiled. They got up, went outside, and started walking down the street toward the nearest fast food restaurant. After all, growing boys can't think seriously on an empty stomach.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sakura sat on her bed, listening to her iPod and reading an old book on shinobi who practiced in medicine. These two activities happened to take up most of her time. When she wasn't doing this she was either sleeping or eating, which were her other two favorite things to do. It was all she could do to keep her mind off the ultimate evil her best friend had done to her. She realized it was about lunchtime and went downstairs to grab something to eat. In the kitchen she ran into her mother.

"Oh Sakura."

"Yeah mom?"

"I bumped into Mrs. Yamanaka at the store today. Ino is home from cheer camp if you want to call her."

Sakura froze. "What? I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention."

"I said, Ino is home from cheer camp if you want to call her."

"Oh…thanks mom. I will a little later."

"Sakura are you okay sweetie? You look a little pale."

"Yeah, fine, I'm just hungry."

"Do you want me to make you something?"

Sakura grabbed the counter for support because she felt her legs starting to collapse beneath her. "No I'll just make a sandwich or something."

"Okay, I'm going back out now. I was just dropping off the groceries."

"Sure. See ya."

As soon as her mother left, Sakura slid down to the kitchen floor and sat on the cold tile surface for a long time. Would she go see Ino right away and confront her? How could she confront her? Would Ino even care? Sakura was confused and wasn't too sure how she'd approach the situation. School was going to start again very soon and she couldn't avoid Ino all year. She had to deal with this right now. It probably wouldn't be a fun experience but being upset with her best friend for the rest of high school didn't seem so great either.

Sakura got up from her kitchen floor and opened her refrigerator. There was no way she was going to approach this feely queasy from not eating. If her belly was full her confidence would be heightened, even though the prospect of a confrontation did shrink her appetite a bit. After Sakura had made a sandwich she quickly inhaled it and then stepped outside. The walk to Ino's house felt much longer than normal and Sakura's stomach was being twisted into knots. As much as she hated what was coming, she had to do it.

Sakura walked up to Ino's front door and stopped abruptly. She took a few deep breaths before raising her fist and knocking firmly on its wooden surface. Unfortunately, there was no answer. _"Fantastic, no one's home. I came all this way for nothing." _Sakura was just about to turn back and go home when Ino's mother answered the front door.

"Sakura hello! It's nice to see you."

"It's nice to see you too Ms. Yamanaka."

"Ino's in her room if you are looking for her."

"Um…thanks," said Sakura quietly.

Sakura walked slowly through Ino's house and came to the door of her room. Part of her wanted to run out of that house back to her own room where she would stay shut up until school started. The other part of her wanted to be like those shinobi she read so much about that would kick in that door, walk up to Ino, and give Ino a piece of her mind. Sakura swallowed hard and decided the best thing to do was just to talk to Ino right this moment. She slowly opened the door to find Ino chatting away on her cell phone while sitting lazily in her computer chair.

Ino looked up at Sakura. "Hey forehead! Wait a sec, I gotta take this call."

"Ino I need to talk to you," stated Sakura in a stern tone.

"Oh come on, you can wait ten minutes can't you?"

"_No I can't wait ten minutes."_ Sakura sighed. "This is really important."

Ino made a face. "Well this is important too. I need to know what everyone else is planning to wear the first day of school so I can look the best."

"School doesn't start for about another week. Can't this wait?"

"No it can't."

"Ino I really have to talk to you, now."

Ino turned around in her computer chair and held up her hand to Sakura. That was enough to set off the explosion that Sakura had been attempting to hold back. "Ino you bitch!"

"What did you call me?"

"That's right, you heard me. Turn off your phone right now, we have something crucial to discuss here."

"Well Ms. Sakura, if we can't be patient then you can just leave."

Sakura stamped her foot hard on the floor. "No! I am not leaving until you explain to me why you did what you did!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Yes you do! You completely ruined my summer! I can't believe you!"

"What _are_ you talking about?" huffed Ino.

Sakura was now in tears. She just couldn't take it anymore. "You, you knew it was him the whole time didn't you?" she sobbed.

Realization flashed across Ino's face but she tried playing it off. "I _still_ have no idea what you're talking about."

"You KNEW it was Sasuke! You KNEW it! Why would you do that to me? WHY?"

"Because!" Ino was at a loss for words. She had no idea how Sakura had found out and she knew she had gotten herself into a bad place.

Sakura's sadness began to subside and rage started taking over. She stomped right up into Ino's face and whispered harshly, "Because _why_?"

"You don't deserve him. If I can't be with him, why should you?"

Sakura made a noise that was between a laugh and a shriek. She knew she'd be upset but she never expected her emotions to run so wild. "What made you think we were going to get together anytime soon? We were only talking! That is so beyond the point right now. You betrayed me Ino. I thought of all people you could be excited for me but no, you had to ruin it. I only found out it was Sasuke because you're too damn stupid to notice who you're sending messages to on your phone."

Ino looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

"That's right, you thought you were sending to Temari, whom I had no idea you were friends with, and you know I hate her too!"

"Oh…shit," Ino mumbled.

"Why would you destroy our friendship over a stupid boy?"

"This isn't just any boy we're talking about Sakura this is Sasuke! Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Last time I checked Sasuke was a male human being. Even so, what is the big deal about that? I didn't know you could be such a jealous person and destroy a bond way stronger than a crush over something so stupid!"

"Look, I know what I did was wrong but…"

"Do you? Do you realize what pain and agony you've caused me? Not only have I lost the chance to actually talk to a guy who understands me but I've been backstabbed by someone I thought was my best friend. Apparently you just don't see my friendship as important anymore! I can't believe you'd stoop so low Ino! You really are just another one of those stupid, brainless, hateful, boy crazy cheerleaders!"

"Don't you say that Sakura. Don't you dare say that, you know that isn't true!"

"Oh really? Well you're actions pretty much spelled that out for me!"

"Listen I'm sorry! I didn't know what I was doing! My feelings got in the way, you know I'd do anything just do be with Sasuke!"

"If you really had a brain maybe you could have seen that if we did become friends, you'd have a better chance of talking to him without being instantly rejected. This all could have worked out wonderfully! If you hadn't intervened I probably wouldn't have found out for a while that it was him! You could have spared me this whole problem! I guess you really just don't care though Ino. That sickens me."

"I guess we can't be friends anymore then can we Sakura?"

"This is exactly what I didn't want to happen! Maybe you can throw away a strong friendship over some crush but I can't. Not after everything we've been through. You ruined my summer but some small portion of me wants to forgive you Ino! I don't want to stay upset with you forever."

"Then why don't you just let it go and deal with the fact that you can't have Sasuke!"

"I want you to apologize and realize what you did!"

"Listen, I'm sorry I upset you but there is no way you could be with him!"

"Why not Ino? Why can't I be with him? If I have a chance to be happy shouldn't you support that?"

"Ya but!"

"There's no doubt that what you did was wrong. I value all of my friendships and you took one away from me and you are also weakening ours. Say you're sorry now!"

"Sakura I…"

"NOW!"

"I'm sorry. I'm really really really sorry. Okay? I'm sorry. It was stupid and bad. You probably don't believe me but I _am_ sorry. It was a mistake. Happy?"

Sakura used all her inner strength to try and calm herself down. She really hadn't expected to go off like that but it had to come out sometime. She'd been feeling rejection and pain for so long. "I'll eventually come to forgive you because in my heart I know I'll somehow get in touch with Sasuke again. However, you've permanently loosened a bond in our relationship that will never be the same again. I don't want to hate you, but just know that you've hurt me. Hopefully by the time school starts things will be relatively back to normal. However, you deserved to hear every word I said. I hope my words are burned into your brain."

"Oh don't worry. You made a lasting impression. I'm sorry okay? I get it. I do."

Sakura wiped her face and walked to Ino's door. "Fine, I'll see you in a week."

Sakura walked by Ino's mother who had a very shocked look on her face. She nodded her head respectfully in Ms. Yamanaka's direction before quickly leaving the house. Obviously she and Ino had made quite some noise but that was to be expected. Sakura was happy she had gotten that out of her system. It would have been torture to walk around school feeling awful and completely down. She was sure of one thing, she'd never be able to trust Ino the same way again. However, in her heart she knew that they'd be their same girly selves in a matter of time.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sasuke, Neji, and Naruto stood waiting on the grounds of their high school. They had all received their schedules so they decided to just hang out until first period began. The students had two periods in the morning, lunch, and two periods in the afternoon. In order to fit in all their classes they worked on block scheduling, so they took certain classes every other day. Naruto was bouncing around, scoping out all the freshmen he was going to attack now that he was considered an upper-classmen. Sasuke stood casually looking extremely bored as usual while trying to ignore the flirtatious girls that passed him by. Neji was very still and scanned the area for things that may have been different or changed since he was last there. He wasn't one for changing environments. He liked consistency. Suddenly, a small boy approached the trio.

"Um…excuse me? Could you tell me where my class is?"

Naruto laughed loudly. "Ha ha stupid freshman! We're juniors, that makes us cooler!"

"I know…but I was just wondering if you could help me, please?"

Sasuke sighed and continued to plaster a look of displeasure on his face.

"What is it you want to know?" asked Neji flatly.

"Can you tell me where to find um…Kakashi-sensei's class?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. "Don't sophomores take Algebra with him?"

The freshman boy grinned widely. "I'm really good at math so I get to skip Geometry."

"So you think you're smarter than us or something?" yelled Naruto.

"No no no! I just want to know where I can find his classroom," said the boy.

Neji turned to Sasuke. "Uchiha you obviously know, can you tell him so he can get out our faces?"

"Room 253," mumbled Sasuke.

"Thank you," the boy squeaked out. He bowed slightly and ran off in a different direction.

"Dang Neji! I was just about to pound him!" complained Naruto.

"There will be plenty of others so shut up. Speaking of classes, what subject do you have first Uchiha?"

Sasuke glanced down at his schedule. He seemed to cough and laugh slightly at the same time. "Math."

Neji smirked. "I have Chemistry. How about you Uzumaki?"

"Hey Sasuke I got math too!" beamed Naruto.

"Not again. I can't do it again with you."

"Oh come on Sasuke! It won't be so bad! I promise to do my homework at least once this year!"

"No. You're not getting anything from me so don't try."

Naruto started to pout. "Awe come on! That's not fair."

"Life isn't, so deal with it."

The bell rang signaling that the students needed to head to class. Sasuke and Naruto decided a spot to meet with Neji for lunch, and then they departed to their respective classes. Sasuke and Naruto entered the classroom of their new Pre-Calculus teacher. Iruka-sensei was sitting in his desk, taking note of the number of students in his class. He smiled as each on walked in and took a seat. Sasuke and Naruto found two seats in the corner towards the back and sat down.

Sakura walked slowly to class with her good friend Hyuuga Hinata. They had just run into Hinata's cousin Neji and stopped to ask about his summer. Their conversation was quickly cut off since they needed to get to first period. Sakura wasn't too excited about the fact her first period class was what she spent all summer doing. _"Math again? Does God hate me or something? Why couldn't I take it tomorrow or at least after lunch?"_ Sakura slowly walked into her Pre-Calculus class after parting ways with Hinata. She took a seat in the middle of the classroom since all the seats in either the back or front were taken. After exchanging a few "hellos" with some of her personal acquaintances and catching up on a few things, Iruka stood up and walked to the front of the class.

"Hello students. I'm happy to be your Pre-Calculus teacher this year. I'm hoping all of you pass my class because unfortunately that is not always the case. If you ever need help with something be sure that you can always come to me. Right now I'm going to start off by taking role."

Sakura sat and waited quietly while Iruka called off all the names. It seemed that the amount of people with their last names starting in "A" was endless. When her name was called she quickly stated "here" and then returned to being bored in her seat. She took note of the names called that she recognized and those whom she had never heard before. When role got closer to the end of the alphabet Sakura started to take out her writing utensils since the lesson was sure to follow. However, she stopped when she heard, "Uchiha Sasuke", audible squeals, and "Uzumaki Naruto" called. _"WHAT? THEY'RE IN MY MATH CLASS? HOW DID I MISS THAT?"_

Sakura whipped around her seat and looked around the desks in the back. Sure enough, the guy that had caused her so much sadness in a small amount of time and his bouncing ball of a best friend were in the back corner. Sakura wanted to run to the admissions desk, find the computer that randomized their classes, and kiss it. Sasuke was in her math class. A sudden sinking feeling came over Sakura. _"Even though we're in the same class, that doesn't mean I get to talk to him. He sat in the back corner for a reason."_ Still, she was content with the fact that one of her favorite people was just a few feet away from her.

After Iruka was done taking role he clapped his hands together. "Okay class! Before we start the lesson for today we're going to have a little quiz."

Everyone in the class groaned.

"Oh come now, it's just an evaluation to see if your brains really did turn to mush in your three months of summer."

"Do we really have to Iruka-sensei?" one student asked.

"Yes you do. I need to know where most of you stand before we start. You have fifteen minutes."

Irkua passed out the quizzes and took a seat behind his desk. Sakura was pretty happy with what she saw printed on the paper. Most of these problems she had just done less than a month ago. She worked out each problem and was proud to see there was about five minutes left when she finished. As the final minutes ticked away, Sakura could hear the sounds of pencils being dropped on to desks as each of the students finished. Irkua stood back up again.

"Students, time's up. Pass your quizzes forward."

The students in the front row made small piles and handed them to their teacher.

"Here's what's going to happen. I'm going to pass out your quizzes and your fellow students are going to grade and return them for you. If you get your own quiz, make sure you trade with someone. After you're done looking at your score, please pass them up."

Naruto slammed his fist into his desk. _"Great now everyone is going to see I failed. Grrrrr."_

Sakura's heart pounded inside of her chest. There was a really slim chance she get a certain person's quiz but she prayed and prayed she would. When she did receive a quiz she found it was a student she was not familiar with. Sakura sunk down in her chair a bit and looked at the student next to her. He was a relatively tall boy with thick bushy eyebrows and an interesting haircut. When he found her looking at him he quickly smiled a huge smile.

"Hello! Are you Haruno Sakura?"

"Um yes but how did you know?"

"We had English class together last year!" said the boy excitedly.

Sakura searched her brain but she couldn't remember. "Oh…"

"If you still cannot remember me, my name is Rock Lee." He made a thumbs-up gesture.

"Ah yes, hello."

"You seem uncomfortable Sakura. Do you know the person whose quiz you received?"

Sakura looked down at the paper. "No, I don't."

Lee smiled again. "How about I trade with you!"

"Whose quiz did you get?"

"Um…the Uchihas!"

"_Now that is very cliché, but I'm not complaining."_ Sakura smiled. "Sure I'll trade."

"Good! Hopefully we have many more classes together!" said Lee loudly.

Sakura laughed nervously. "Yeah, sure."

She took the quiz from Lee and began to grade it. After she was done she checked all her corrections again to make sure there were no mistakes. Sasuke had done very well and only missed four on the whole page. Summer school had apparently served him well too. Then, a thought struck Sakura. What if she wrote something on his quiz? Then he would know it was her for sure! It was the perfect plan. She went to the blank space at the bottom of the quiz, lightly wrote something down, and signed it. That way since they had to turn in later he could erase it.

Irkua signaled for the students to return the quizzes to their respecting owners. Sakura got hers back and saw that she'd missed only one. She was so happy that those weeks of summer she spent weren't a complete waste. Maybe math would be easier for her this year than it was before. Hopefully the whole year would be nicer than the previous year, and she really hoped that things between her and Ino would eventually become better. It was stupid to stay mad at your best friend. Grudges were never beneficial.

Sasuke waited for his quiz to come back to him. Class had only been going on for about twenty minutes and he was already bored out of his mind. He waited and waited but his quiz never got back to him. Then he noticed that Naruto was unsuccessfully holding in a laugh.

"What did you do dumbass?"

"No-thi-ng..waha..ha."

"Come on loser, you have my quiz don't you?"

"May-be."

"Give. It. Back," said Sasuke darkly.

"Why should I?"

"I will punch your arm so hard you won't be able to write for a while."

Naruto thought for a second about if teasing Sasuke was worth having problems with his arm. After all, he'd need it to beat up the freshmen. "Okay, geez."

"God you're stupid."

Sasuke took back his quiz and smirked. He did pretty darn well. Then shock hit him hard when his eyes reached the bottom of his quiz. _"No way. There is no way. How could…?"_ It occurred to Sasuke it didn't matter how. All that mattered was it was there. Those few short sentences made him realize he'd love math class, and maybe even school.

**Dark Flame- So we meet again. It's a long story but let's just say it's my  
friend's fault and I'm sorry. Once again I'm giving you a choice. We can  
pretend this whole thing never happened, or you can come find me by the  
tree in font of the gate after school. I'll be waiting. **

**- Haruno Sakura**

Sasuke started to smile. He couldn't stop himself. This was the one problem not even Hyuuga Neji could figure out yet now it was solved. Of course he'd meet her. He had to after all the time they spent writing. He was so disappointed before but now nothing could mess up his day, not even Naruto copying all of his answers. Sasuke looked up to the front of the class where he saw the pink haired girl writing some notes on her paper. _"Pink hair, go figure."_

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke turned to Naruto and tried to yell at him but failed miserably.

"Why are you so happy all of a sudden?"

"I just came up with this great method of torture for you."

"Oh…" Naruto gulped.

"Okay class, pass in your quizzes!" said Iruka.

Sasuke wanted to keep his forever but he erased the message and turned it in. Now all that stood in his way was time itself.

* * *

_**A/N:**_ Okay, the chapter is out. I'm pretty darn happy with it. The idea of how they reunite was created by my friend and I since before chapter 3. We knew they'd get back together in this way to keep the message theme, so it was pretty much set in stone. So thanks to you who cared enough to want to contribute and give suggestions but this is why I couldn't use any. We have it all planned ahead of time. Well thanks for reading, continue to give me feedback, I'm so loving this new profanity filter fanfiction has. It's fantastic. 


	9. Face to Face

_**A/N: **_All right you guys, here it is. I hope you're happy with it. Thanks for the wait and enjoy!

"_Thoughts_" "Speech" "**Writing**"

_**Disclaimer: **_Moving on now.

Chapter 9: Face to Face

The sounds of shuffling feet, muffled conversations, and rustling leaves were all around her as she stood underneath the branches of the tree next to the front gate. The bell had rung just ten minutes before, and she was starting to get nervous. Sakura glanced quickly to her left and right, but there was still no sign of the boy she was waiting for. She didn't know how much longer she could wait. Maybe he was angry at her for what happened. She tried to push that thought of her mind but it continued to linger there. The amount of students flooding from the school was starting to grow thin, and a shadow of doubt continued to grow within Sakura.

The raven-haired Uchiha walked slowly down the hallway of the school. The door to the front grounds was just a few feet away from him. However, something stopped Sasuke from walking further. What was he going to say to this girl he barely even knew? He had come to know little facts about her, but it didn't really help his predicament. Maybe he wasn't supposed to have continued speaking to her. It could have been just a horrible mistake that they were in the same math class together again. Sasuke stood rooted to the ground, trying to sort out his thoughts. Finally, he came to the conclusion that he would just acknowledge her, and then be on his way.

Sakura looked at her cell phone for the twentieth time. She had been standing under that tree for almost thirty minutes. Being that her math partner was the most sought after boy in school, he probably decided she was just another stupid girl and had left by now. Sakura sighed in defeat and was just about to walk away when she heard the light crunching of leaves behind her. She was completely frozen, and as much as she wanted to turn around and spit out the dialogue she had been rehearsing in her brain, she couldn't. Sasuke cleared his throat but Sakura made no movement. He decided to try again.

"Um, excuse me?" he mumbled out.

Sakura slowly turned around to meet two dark eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.

"You're Ms. S…aren't you?"

Sakura nodded.

"I um, I'm…Dark Flame."

"Oh." Sakura squeaked out. She mentally slapped herself. Everything she had planned on saying escaped her thoughts completely.

Sasuke stood there for a second, taking in Saukra's soft pink hair, her surprised expression, and how she was gently rocking back and forth on her feet. This was definitely not easy for her either.

Sakura tried to calm herself down a bit. She closed her eyes, took a couple deep breaths, and continued with what she was trying to say. "Hi. Um, thanks for meeting me."

Sasuke put his hands in his pockets. "Yeah, no problem."

Another uncomfortable silence passed between the two. It was becoming increasingly akward for the both of them. Sasuke wondered if it may have been better never to meet in person at all. He was just about to announce that it was time for him to leave when he felt a soft pressure on his arm. Sakura had reached up and placed her hand on his arm. The look on her face had changed from extremely nervous to slightly more serious, and Sasuke tried to determine what had changed in the last few moments.

Sakura took another deep breath. "Sasuke, I'm really glad you showed up."

Sasuke couldn't help but smile a bit since he realized was feeling the same way, even if it was pretty weird. "Well come on, you went through the same crap I did this summer."

Sakura let out a small laugh. "Yeah, that's a good word to sum up that class."

"At least we don't have Kakashi again."

"Iruka doesn't seem that much better though."

"True."

Sakura looked around the campus. There were only a few students left, casually leaving after their first day of school. It was at this moment that it hit Sakura who exactly she was talking to. She was all by herself, talking with Uchiha Sasuke. "_He really does have pretty eyes, but he's just a regular teenager with problems like everyone else. He's not some God._" Sakura was suddenly jerked out of her thoughts when her phone started to ring. Sasuke had apparently been day dreaming too, for he jumped slightly and then ran a hand through his spiky black hair.

"Um, sorry, it's my mom."

Sasuke smirked. "Whatever."

"Mom?" Sakura walked off a couple feet to the side and turned her back to Sasuke.

Sasuke listened as Sakura seemed to be arguing with her mom on the subject of being home on time. He felt a small pang of envy. No one at home would care if he came home right on time or a day late. At least Sakura had family who worried about her.

"Okay mom I'll be right home! I'm sorry. No I'm not doing drugs okay? Jeez!" With that, Sakura abruptly hung up the phone. She stomped back over to Sasuke and became even more flustered when she found him staring at her.

"That didn't go too well," he stated flatly.

Sakura's cheeks were tinged slightly with pink. "She can be so annoying sometimes. Does your…oh." Sakura wished she had a sharp object to jab into. She completely forgot about Sasuke's family. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it," she blurted out quickly.

Sasuke looked off to the front gate. "It doesn't matter. My parents are gone and there's nothing I can do about it."

Before another very long period of silence passed, Sakura quickly added, "Well, I have to leave now or else my mom will kill me. So I guess I'll just be seeing you later then?"

It took a second to for Sasuke to register what she had said since his mind was elsewhere. "Oh um, right." Then, something came out of Sasuke's mouth he hadn't expected to say. "Do you think I could walk you home?"

Sakura had already turned toward the gate. "What? I mean I heard you, but…really?"

Sasuke shifted from one foot to the other. "_What ever happened to say hi and leave? I guess that plan died pretty quickly._" "Well yeah, I kind of don't have anything else to do, and it's getting late…" mumbled Sasuke.

Sakura smiled. "Okay, but you'll probably have to leave me at the corner since I don't need my mom yelling at me about boys too."

"Oh."

Sasuke and Sakura walked through the front gate of the school and down the street. It felt a little strange to Sasuke to be saying more than just a few words to a girl. However, he technically had been talking to her all summer. Something inside of him told him he was doing the right thing, and that in the long run it would work out okay. At least she would be slightly more interesting to talk to then Naruto or Neji. At least Neji already knew about her. How could he explain to Naruto why he was talking so suddenly to a girl he never spoke to before? He would never hear the end of it. Sasuke shook his head and decided to deal with the problem when it came. Right now he was pretty happy just listening to the pink haired teen chatter about her personal interests.

Two men silently stepped out from behind a tree and watched the young teens walk down the street. They were both dressed in all black with a single red cloud printed on the back of their t-shirts. Each stayed very quiet and still. The taller of the two had a menacing grin on his face, and kept looking from the fading figure of the spiky-haired teen to his partner standing beside him. His partner kept his icy gaze fixed to the retreating backs of the pair walking down the street.

Kisame laughed a bit. "It looks like your little brother picked up a new friend."

"I've noticed," stated Itachi.

"She looks cute."

Itachi smirked. "I've noticed that as well."

When the younger pair was out of sight, the older two turned and began walking in the other direction. "Will you be doing anything…interesting?" Kisame asked gleefully.

"Possibly."

"Well if you don't, maybe I will."

Itachi turned to his partner and sent a glare at Kisame that fixed him in his place. "Touch them before I say so and die. Understood?"

Kisame grunted. "Sorry, I didn't think you'd take it so personally."

Itachi remained silent after that. However, his ever-constant mind was contemplating what he was going to do about his little brother's new friend. Intervening could be interesting, _very_ interesting.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sakura stopped abruptly at the corner of her street and pivoted on her foot to face Sasuke. She couldn't help the small gasp that escaped her lips, as if she had forgotten whom she'd been walking with all this time. She looked down for a moment to collect her thoughts.

"Well, thank you for walking me home."

Sasuke shrugged. "Sure."

"I'll see you tomorrow then?"

"Probably."

"You think we'll have anymore classes together?"

Sasuke shrugged once more.

Sakura giggled. "You don't like much small talk do you?"

A small smile fell across Sasuke's lips. "Did you just figure this out now?"

"Nah, guess I always knew that didn't I?"

"You should by now."

"Well then, see you tomorrow."

"Bye."

Sasuke watched Sakura walk the couple extra feet to her house and then up the front steps. She waved before she opened the door and stepped into her house. He just shook his head as he started to hear traces of a verbal dispute between Sakura and her mother. It hadn't been as bad as he thought. Maybe she could somehow fit into the twisted pattern of his life.

Before walking back to his house, Sasuke stopped over at Naruto's to see if he could pick up some food. He doubted there would be any when he got home. Being friends with a never-ending eating machine did have its perks. When he walked to his street, the entire block was completely black. Not a single house was lit. Sasuke walked rather quickly to his front door and pushed it open. The house was even darker than the outside. However, this wasn't what was causing Sasuke some anxiety. Deciding not to think too much of it he headed towards his room.

"Lovely girl, isn't she?" said a cold voice.

Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks. He was almost positive there hadn't been anyone home. "What?"

Itachi was suddenly right beside him. He hadn't made a sound. "Oh you know perfectly well who I'm talking about."

Sasuke clenched his hands into tight fists. "So?"

"You should invite her over sometime."

"If you die first maybe I'll think about it."

"There's no need to be rude Sasuke," Itachi stated calmly.

"Well then you can kiss my ass." Sasuke started to walk toward his room.

"Fine, you clearly have no interest in her, so you shouldn't care if I do anything about it."

Sasuke spun around and walked right back up to his brother. "Why the hell can't you stalk someone else?"

Itachi chuckled softly. The sound was foreign to Sasuke's ears. "Because it would be far less fun that way, my foolish little brother."

"Don't touch her," spat Sasuke.

"So you do care?"

Sasuke glared at his brother through the dark and slowly backed away toward his room. He stopped before he slammed the door. "Yes," he whispered.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sakura woke up late the next morning and had barely finished her piece of toast before she was out the door. Fortunately for her, the bus hadn't arrived yet, and she was able to get to school on time. Sakura quickly spotted her friends chatting casually before school started, but she didn't go to them. She noticed a bouncing blonde and two stoic looking teens arguing with each other on the other side of campus. With a couple butterflies in her stomach, she decided to join their group instead.

Neji watched as the pink haired girl approached his group. He looked at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye. Naruto stopped arguing about whatever insignificant thing was bothering him and gaped at the girl walking toward them.

"Is that her Uchiha?" asked Neji.

Sasuke passionately hated his friend's intuition. He grunted in response.

"Dang, she's kind of hot," said Naruto just a tad too loudly.

"Shut up dumb ass," replied Sasuke.

Sakura stopped in front of the trio. "Hi Sasuke."

"Hey."

"Wait you _know_ her?" shouted Naruto.

"You're starting to kill my brain cells with your yelling," stated Neji.

"Um, well thanks again for walking me home yesterday," whispered Sakura.

Neji raised an eyebrow and Naruto's mouth shot open.

"Yeah, sure," mumbled Sasuke.

"What class do you have first?"

"Chemistry."

"Me too!"

Naruto groaned. "You can't be lab partner's with her! That's just not right! I don't even get a fair chance!"

"Will you shut up?" yelled Sasuke.

Sakura laughed nervously. "I'm going to go say hi to my other friends, but I'll see you in class. Talk to you later."

As soon as Sakura was back across campus Naruto seemed to come out of shock. "Sasuke, are you telling me you talk to girls now? You never talk to girls! How do you know her? Spill it!"

Sasuke glared at his energetic friend. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Yeah I would, so tell me!"

"I'm not going to. Deal with it."

Sakura walked up to her friends Tenten and Hinata. Ino had suddenly seemed in a rush to get to class and left the group. Apparently things were still a little rough between her and Sakura. Hinata was blushing and Tenten was stifling giggles.

"Sakura, were you talking to Neji just now?" asked Tenten.

"Well, just Sasuke really, but Neji was there. Why?"

"Oh, no reason."

"Na-Naruto seemed surprised about something," whispered Hinata.

"I really think the both of you should just go talk to them. It's not that hard. Besides, now that I'm friends with Sasuke, maybe it'll be easier for you."

All three girls burst out in giggles.

A solemn look came over Sakura's face. "Is Ino still upset with me?"

Tenten frowned. "She's getting better. She still hasn't told us what happened between you guys. I'm assuming it has something to do with that Uchiha by the way she was glaring at you all this time."

"It's no big deal, just a stupid argument that got out of hand. Don't worry about it," replied Sakura.

The bell rang, signaling that the students needed to move to class. Sakura felt a presence standing behind her. Tenten winked and then suddenly started pulling Hinata away. Sakura turned around and once again gasped slightly at the face she saw. It was definitely going to take some getting used to. She could hardly believe she was friends with her long time crush.

"Hi," whispered Sakura.

"We should get to chemistry," stated Sasuke.

"Okay."

"Um, sorry about earlier," mumbled Sasuke.

"Don't worry about it. No big deal."

Sasuke just sighed. Then he proceeded to walk with Sakura to their classroom for the start of a long school day.

* * *

_**A/N:**_ Much love to all of you for being so patient. This chapter was fun. I had been envisioning it for a very long time. I hope you liked it. Your comments are greatly appreciated, and I still can't believe how many people are reading this story. I can't promise when I'll be updating again. I have some huge things coming up in my schedule. However have faith in me, I promise this story won't die and I will eventually finish it. Until next time! 


	10. An Unwanted Guest

_**A/N:**_ At this point I really could care less what some of you people think of me. I write this story because I enjoy doing it, and I'll update when I can. I had to take tests that determine the course of my future and required lots of preparation. It's your choice to keep following this fic or not, but don't hate me because I have a life and care about what becomes of it. To all of my kinder readers out there, thanks for waiting. I'll finish eventually. You deserve long chapters, and unfortunately it takes a bit to get _well written_ chapters out. Due to some changes with this website, the formatting for messages will appear slightly different than in previous chapters.

"_Thoughts_" "Speech" "**Writing**"

_**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own the characters that appear in this story.

Chapter 10: An Unwanted Guest

"Sasuke," whispered Sakura. "Sasuke."

She gently shook the arm of the raven-haired teen.

"Sasuke wake up."

"Hm, what?" Sasuke yawned and looked over to his pink haired companion.

Sakura giggled. "How did you fall asleep already? We've only been in Chemistry for ten minutes."

"I guess I'm tired."

"Did you sleep okay last night?"

A dark look came over Sasuke's face. What his brother had said bothered him more than he expected it to. He didn't sleep at all the night before. However, he couldn't let Sakura know anything about that. He wouldn't let his brother anywhere near her.

"Saskue?"

"Oh um, I'm just not used to school yet."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Do you always ask so many questions? It's a little annoying."

Sakura made a face at Sasuke. "Well of course I ask lots of questions. You should have figured that out by now."

"Just like you were supposed to figure out I don't like much small talk?" He grinned.

"Right."

"Mr. Uchiha and Ms. Haruno, would you like to explain why you are interrupting my class?" said Yuhi Kurenai.

The two teens shook their heads and quickly silenced themselves. Kurenai turned back to the class to continue explaining what could be expected during the year and class rules.

Sasuke tried to visually burn a hole into his teacher's forehead, but being that he didn't have laser vision or genjutsu like his favorite shinobi legends, it proved useless. Despite the fact he didn't like small talk, he liked hearing Sakura talk, although he would never admit that to her out loud. He twiddled his thumbs, trying to think of something to keep him awake at least until class was over.

He looked over at Sakura. "Psst."

"What? We're going to get in trouble again!" she whispered harshly.

"Just give me a sheet of paper," he said through his teeth.

"Oh." Sakura clicked opened her binder, pulled out a sheet, and handed it to Sasuke.

"Thanks."

"Are you seriously taking notes on class rules?"

Sasuke made an odd coughing noise. "No."

"Okay then."

Sakura watched as Sasuke took his pencil and began writing slowly on the paper. He had positioned himself so she couldn't see what he was writing. Suddenly, she began to realize what he was doing. Excitement struck her like a bolt of lighting. She began to anxiously tap her fingers as he wrote. After what seemed like an eternity he placed his pencil back on table and slid the paper underneath his arm toward her. Sakura slid it off the table on to her lap. She flicked her eyes down to the paper.

**Yes, I know your name, but I think I'll continue to call**

**you Ms. S. So Ms. S, there is something I've been trying to **

**figure out, and it's been stuck in the back of my mind ever since **

**summer school ended. What happened to the final note? You **

**said it had something to do with your friend, but I don't recall **

**you ever speaking of any friends that were in class with you. **

– **Dark Flame**

Sakura was a little shocked by the words she'd read. How could she possibly tell him that he was the guy of her dreams and her friend had been jealous? She didn't want to come across as many of the other girls she had seem him ignore. She could lie, but some how she knew that would never work. Sasuke was a very perceptive person and could probably see through whatever half-baked story she came up with. Maybe she could say it without giving away the full details. Sakura sighed and put the paper back on the table after checking to make sure Kurenai wasn't looking.

Sasuke observed Sakura as she had read what he wrote. He was sure she wouldn't blow him off entirely, but he didn't know how much she would say. If she didn't want to tell him the full story before, he doubted she would do it now, but he had to try. He'd been so upset over the sheet of lined paper that contained seemingly useless information. Those words made him his first true friend in a long time. Sakura didn't seem like the other girls that just wanted to get with him in order to display him like a prize to their friends. He had come up with many different reasons as to what had happened during the end of the summer, but it would be nice to know the true story. He waited for her to finish writing and then slowly slid the paper back in front of him.

**It's been a while Dark Flame. It's nice to have finally**

**met the person behind the words. See, at least your not**

**a gothic loser kid. If you take that personally I'm going**

**to slap you. Anyway, to make a long story as short as **

**possible, my friend found out that I was writing to someone**

**and knew I was really excited about it. She apparently went**

**to Kakashi's class just to find out who it was. You know well**

**of your popularity. My friend got really jealous and destroyed**

**the paper so I couldn't talk to you. When I found out, I kind of**

**exploded on her. However, does it really matter anymore? We**

**can really be friends now. That's all I care about.**

– **Ms. S**

A renewed hate for screaming fangirls arose within Sasuke. He never thought some stupid girl could get in the way so badly. Although, he could see Sakura wasn't too happy about it either. She must have enjoyed talking to him just as much as he did to her. Sasuke smiled to himself. If they were going to continue to be friends, who knew where that would lead. He never had really cared for a girl before. Still, he could see his relationship with Sakura progressing in the future. If he missed her random drabble about summer school, he didn't know how devastated he'd be if he stopped talking to her entirely. Being the person he was, Sasuke wasn't going to reveal his feelings that easily.

He turned his head toward Sakura.

She looked up at him with nervousness strewn across her face.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

"Of course."

"What's your next period?"

"Anatomy and Physiology."

"Why would you take a hard class like that?"

"I want to be a doctor someday."

"How could anyone entrust a scalpel in your hands?"

"Oh, how nice of you."

Sasuke laughed softly. Once again he was surprised with himself. He rarely displayed any emotion except for coldness. "I have history, so I guess I'll see you at lunch."

"Really? You'd eat with me?"

"I didn't say I'd eat with you, but if you want…"

"Okay!"

"Shut up, she's looking over here!"

Immediately Sakura looked down and pretended to vigorously write notes, but she couldn't keep the smile off her face. Lunch would be very interesting.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sasuke went over to the usual lunch spot where his other two companions had already congregated. He kept his eyes continuously moving to try and locate any sign of pink. He was so distracted he didn't notice his hyperactive blonde friend making a scene next to him.

"Hey EMO BOY! Can you HEAR me?"

"…"

"SASUKE!"

"God, what is it?"

"What's your problem? Even if you don't talk in general you're acting more like a robot than Neji does!"

"Watch what you say," stated Neji.

"I'll say whatever I want to!"

"Just stop talking Uzumaki. It would do everyone some good."

"You can't tell me what to do Neji! Just because you get straight A's doesn't make you better than me."

"Actually, it does. It was clearly fate that determined I'd be superior to you."

Suddenly, Sasuke spotted the pink-haired girl walking toward her group of friends. After she greeted them she looked over in his direction. Something caused Sasuke to start walking toward her.

"Sasuke where are you going now?"

"None of your business Naruto."

"Hey! It's that girl again! Are you seriously friends with her?"

Sasuke completely ignored him and kept walking toward Sakura.

Tenten and Hinata both stood still as the Uchiha drew closer. Sakura looked at them and started to laugh.

"Oh come on you guys. He's not going to bite…much."

"He-He's getting closer," said Hinata.

"Oh no."

"What is it Tenten?" Sakura looked at the dismal face of her friend.

"Ino was walking over here but she stopped and started running the other direction. Are you sure the two of you are all right?"

"I guess we're not. I was hoping everything would be okay by now." Sakura looked down at her shoes. A shadow passed across them, causing her eyes to look to the source.

"Sakura," said Sasuke.

"Hi!"

"Um, do you want to go somewhere else?"

"You wouldn't mind eating alone with me?"

"No."

"Oh." Sakura's cheeks reddened a bit. "Where?"

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders.

"How about by the tree?"

Sasuke knew exactly which tree she was speaking of. "Hm."

"I'll take that as a yes. Bye Tenten. Bye Hinata. See you guys later."

"Have fun Sakura," said Tenten. Her smile made Sakura feel slightly uncomfortable.

Sasuke and Sakura walked in silence until they approached the tree where they first met face to face. Sakura took a seat on one of its long roots and Sasuke leaned against its trunk. The two ate quietly for a few minutes. Unlike before, this silence was comfortable. Sakura felt she was becoming more at ease with Sasuke. It was nice to finally get to know who was behind the pretty face. He really wasn't as cold and harsh as he appeared.

Sasuke took a bite out of the tomato in his hand.

"You eat whole tomatoes?"

"I love tomatoes."

"I'm just surprised. You took a bite out of it like it was candy."

"I don't like sweets."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. I don't know what I'd do without chocolate."

Sasuke didn't respond after that. He took another large bite out of his tomato. Sakura watched a droplet of juice slide down the corner of his mouth. As soon as she realized she was staring, she quickly searched her mind for another topic of conversation.

"So, you like shinobi?"

"Yes."

"What is one of your favorite stories?"

Sasuke stared off into space for a few moments. "The legend of the Kyuubi."

"You mean the nine-tailed demon fox?"

Sasuke gave her a look that caused he stomach to summersault. "Know anything about it?"

"Only that it possessed a great amount of power but was incredibly dangerous."

He grinned. "Exactly."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Does that turn you on?"

Sasuke choked slightly on the piece of tomato in his mouth. "No. I never expected a comment like that from you. However, Naruto is a completely different story."

"He seems like the type of person that would drive you completely nuts. How are you such good friends?"

"Beats me."

The bell rung, which signified the end of lunch. Slowly, groups of students started to move toward their respective classes. Sakura stood from her seat and Sasuke stretched a bit.

"Um, Sasuke?"

"What?"

"Do you think you could walk me home again today?"

He ran a hand through his dark spikes. "I guess."

"I'll just meet you here then?"

"Sure."

"See you later!"

"Bye."

The wind rustled the leaves of the large tree. The cool air felt good to Sasuke as he watched Sakura walk away. She was right, they could be friends, and that was all that mattered.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sakura clumsily walked out of the main building of the school. She was surprised how tired she was. It was going to take longer than she thought to get back into the rhythm. Immediately her eyes strayed to the figure standing near the tree. She was almost shocked to find him waiting there. Their places had been switched from the pervious time they'd met.

Sakura briskly walked to where Sasuke was standing. She smiled brightly at him.

Saskue merely nodded and began to walk out the gate.

Sakura quickly turned to match his pace.

Neither of the teens spoke for almost the entirety of the walk. Sakura began to feel a bit anxious the closer they approached her house. She knew Sasuke didn't like talking too much but this was a little ridiculous. He didn't have to take her home. However, the fact that he did made all the difference. Her house was just one more block up the street.

Sakura loudly cleared her throat.

"Yes?" Sasuke smirked.

"Nothing really, it was just getting a little too quiet."

"I like quiet."

"I can see that."

"Well, your house is right there, should I stay on the corner?"

Sakura started to giggle but a hand that covered her mouth stifled her laughter. Sasuke hadn't noticed that they were being followed. He never expected something like this could possibly happen. Sakura stood frozen as her captor moved his other hand to firmly grip her shoulder. Sasuke could feel the heat building inside of him but didn't move out of fear for Sakura.

"Itachi, her house is right there. If you do anything her parents will come out immediately."

"No they won't little brother. You won't be saying a word. One false move and I could break her neck right here."

Sakura's eyes widened and a muffled cry came out of her mouth.

"Don't worry, it would be completely painless. You'd die instantly."

Saskue couldn't bear looking at Sakura's eyes. "What do you want? Why can't you leave her alone? If you want to hurt someone, do it to me."

"Come now Sasuke. I just think it'd be nice if your new friend paid us a visit."

"Her parents will call the police."

"Those fools have never stopped me before have they?"

Sasuke lowered his voice. "Itachi if you do anything to her I swear I'll…"

"Kill me? I'd like to see you try. Now, the two of you start walking toward our house. I won't be far behind. If you try to do anything stupid, you will both suffer dearly. Any questions?"

Sasuke glared fiercely at his brother. "No."

"Good. Sakura isn't it? Don't scream and keep walking," cooed Itachi in a smooth voice.

Sakura shut her eyes, felt Itachi release her, and slowly opened them too look at Sasuke. Itachi was nowhere to be seen. She had no idea how he moved so quickly. She knew by the horrified look on Sasuke's face that they were both in danger. Apparently, Sasuke hadn't been lying about his brother at all. No wonder he was always brooding in a corner. To live with someone like that must have been miserable. Sakura couldn't help the couple of tears that drifted down her cheeks.

"Don't cry Sakura. Somehow I'll get you out of this. I promise," whispered Sasuke.

Sasuke took her hand and started the long walk toward his house.

* * *

_**A/N: **_There you have it. The story has taken a slightly different turn from my original plan but I'm happy with it. I can't promise when you'll hear from me next but it WILL happen. Please try to restrain the need to ask me to update. If you have questions about the story I'll be glad to answer but the next chapter will be up whenever I can get to it. Thank you for reading and I hope this chapter lived up to what you'd been hoping for. 


	11. The Plan

_**A/N: **_Well, yeah, it's been almost a year, no I didn't die, and I'm not going to beg for mercy or anything. I finally have a chance to think about fanfiction and relax. If you want to keep reading, here it is, if not, so be it. I'm super happy with it. Enjoy.

"_Thoughts_" "Speech" "**Writing**"

_**Disclaimer:**_ They're mine! I'm making tons of money! Psh, in my dreams.

Chapter 11: The Plan

The sound of her heartbeat pounding in her ears was starting to be painful. Pleas for help and of sparing her life ran through her mind. She tightly gripped the smooth hand she held for dear life. Sakura had previously been angry at how boring and routine her life had been, how plain she was as a person. She had never guessed in her wildest dreams that she would be in the situation she was currently in. Not only had her best friend turned against her, but also the most amazing guy in school was her new companion. To top it off, his psychotic older brother was going to hold them hostage and do what only God knew.

Sasuke was fuming. His primary concern was keeping Sakura safe. However, each step toward his house was making it increasingly difficult to restrain the urge to destroy his brother with his bare hands. That would only make matters worse, and he knew he wouldn't stand a chance. All options of calling for outside help were completely off. Itachi would just get around it somehow or cause horrible damage before anyone could arrive. They were going to have to get out on their own. The question was, how?

As quickly as Itachi had disappeared, he came back behind them when they were almost to the house.

Itachi glanced down at his little brother. Sasuke sent him a death glare.

"Oh please Sasuke. You're starting to annoy me."

"Good. Maybe I'll annoy you to death."

"When did you become so hateful toward me?"

Sasuke gawked. "Did you seriously just ask me that question?"

Itachi's mouth became a slim line. "Shut up and keep walking."

Sakura gripped Sasuke's hand more tightly.

He looked at her with a tenderness that would have swept her off her feet had the situation had been different.

She opened her mouth to speak but quickly shut it. More tears streamed down her face.

The sight of the front of Sasuke's house should have made Sakura experience a feeling entirely different to the anguish that overcame her.

Sasuke stopped momentarily before opening the door. Then he stepped into the dark living room.

Itachi silently shut the door and walked directly behind Sakura. Both teens stayed extremely still.

"Sasuke, why don't you leave Sakura with me and go to your room?"

Sakura locked her hand into a vice grip with Sasuke's fingers.

"Never," Sasuke hissed.

Itachi put two black polished fingernails on Sasuke's shoulder and pressed in deeply, causing him to jerk in a harsh manner. "You will leave, _now_."

"Sasuke no," whispered Sakura.

"You don't really want me to hurt him more, do you Sakura?" said Itachi in a casual tone.

Sakura slowly shook her head and let her hand slide away from Sasuke.

Sasuke moved very close to Itachi's face. "If I hear even one squeak from her, you won't leave this house completely unscathed."

"You wouldn't leave this house ever again," replied Itachi.

Sasuke walked carefully back to his room, his eyes never leaving Sakura's face.

Once Sasuke had closed the door to his room, Sakura began to breathe more rapidly.

Itachi laughed softly. "What are you so afraid of Sakura? You've never met me before. Why believe all the horrible things my little brother says about me?"

Sakura was too afraid to answer.

"Why don't you take a seat on the couch?"

It was more of a statement than a question. Sakura immediately complied.

Itachi sat in front of her on the coffee table. "Sakura, I need to tell you something. You can choose not to believe me. My actions thus far have proven to be completely opposite to what I'm going to say, but it's the truth. I can tell you truly care for my little brother and that's the only reason I'm deciding to tell you. No one else, not even he, knows the truth."

Sakura brought her knees up to her chest. This wasn't exactly what she was expecting to hear come out of Itachi's mouth.

Itachi continued on. "As you know, Sasuke and I aren't in the best of financial situations. Our parents did leave us some money, but we only use it in extreme situations, like medical bills. Sasuke is a smart kid, and I've already chosen the path my life will take."

"Um…okay," said Sakura in a shaky voice. She had no idea where this was going.

"I've done some terrible things. I've made alliances with horrible people. I've acted with one thought in my mind, the well being of my foolish little brother."

Sakura continued to stare at the strange young man sitting in front of her. _"What exactly are you telling me? That you're the good guy? No way!" _

"I'm sure you don't believe me. However, just think for a minute. If I'd gone away to school, Sasuke would have probably been put into a foster home system. He'd have to move around all the time and be stuck living with awful people in places unfamiliar to him. My sheltered little brother would not have been ready for that."

Sakura clenched her fists. "So are you telling me you neglected Sasuke and joined the most dangerous gang in the city to protect him? Please explain to me how that's supposed to make sense."

"Yes, I've physically hurt Sasuke a few times and threatened him, but I would never want to or try to kill him. By doing this I've essentially made him much stronger. He's had to fend for himself a bit but how else would he have learned to stand on his own two feet? He's lucky to have been able to stay with the few friends he's made and lived in the city he was born in. I've made sure all of Akatsuki's activities have never been traced back to this house, and any member who has even threatened to hurt him has been quickly brought down by me."

Sakura couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Is this what you call "tough love"?

"Yes, I suppose you could call it that."

"You're unbelievable. I'm sure stealing, doing drugs, and killing people were all part of the "protect Sasuke" plan!"

Itachi gave Sakura a look which quickly reminded her who she was speaking to. "I told you, I chose my path. For Sasuke to have a future, I had to lose mine."

"Why tell me?"

Itachi smirked. Sakura inwardly noted the family quirk. "I told you because you are the exact catalyst I need for the next part of my "protect Sasuke" plan as you so adequately stated."

"What?"

"If I'm out of the picture, Sasuke not only gets the house, but the rest of the money we have left. I couldn't just leave and never come back. Suicide was not an option. Something a little bit different had to take place."

Sakura was confused. "Okay, like what?"

"I have to make Sasuke come after me some how. Make him angry enough to want to fight me. Then I could either fake my death or leave but with a purpose behind it. This would result in Sasuke getting the rest of our inheritance and being able to pay for a good college education. He could start a new and better life."

"How come you didn't just tell Sasuke you cared about him and had the court or whatever take care of it? Why go through all this trouble and ruin your reputation? Why make him hate you if all you're saying is really true?"

"We are not like other brothers Sakura. We are quite different. I was cursed with being extremely gifted. It's always been Sasuke's goal to surpass me. This is something you could never understand."

For the firs time, Sakura saw traces of something human in Itachi's eyes.

"If I'm the big catalyst for your plan, what are you going to do with me?"

"You won't enjoy it, but it's the only way. I'm very sorry for what I'm about to do. We won't see each other again."

"Excuse me?" Sakura became worried when Itachi reached out for her wrist and gripped it very tightly. With one simple twist, he broke it. She screamed out in pain.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sasuke sat cross-legged on his bed, staring at his door. His posture was extremely rigid and he gripped his knees so tightly that it seemed his bones would pop through his skin. He couldn't hear anything coming from the living room. It was too quiet. He wasn't sure what Itachi would do. The only time there was ever women in the house was when Itachi brought home someone stupid enough to go with him. Itachi was too good for prostitutes. He had to destroy those nice people around him. Sasuke never saw any of these girls, he only knew they were there. He could hear them. They'd always be gone by the morning.

Just the thought of Itachi even laying a finger on Sakura was enough to make Sasuke's insides twist. It had been too quiet for too long. What in the world could they have been doing? Maybe he was mentally torturing her or something. He heard Itachi could do that. Simply by looking someone in the eye he could get into their heads, frighten them, without even lifting a finger. It must have been the reason he commanded the respect of the other members of Akatsuki, this as well as his incredible strength and brilliance.

Only minutes had passed by but it felt like hours to Sasuke. He would never forgive himself if anything happened to Sakura. She was the first person in his life he truly felt a special bond with. Then, he heard it. A high-pitched ear-piercing scream radiated through the silent house. He let two seconds pass by before flying out his door to the living room. Frantically, Saskue looked around but no one was there. He took a step forward and heard a crunch under his foot. Quickly, he bent down and picked up the crumpled sheet of paper. There were three simple words written on it.

_**At the school. **_

Sasuke crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it as hard as he could against the wall. He forcefully pulled open the front door, slammed it shut, and started sprinting down the block. It was already dark, and the campus was pretty big. Who knew where Itachi would take her? He ran as fast as he could down the pavement, almost getting hit by a car at one point. It didn't matter. He had to get there before anything else could happen. When the front gate of the school was in sight he willed his legs to move even faster. The gate was slightly ajar. He slipped through it and stopped so abruptly that he almost fell over. Itachi was standing in center of the quad with an unconscious Sakura in his arms. He set her down on the pavement and then started running toward the main building.

Sasuke dashed to Sakura's side and gently shook her.

"Sakura please wake up! Please!"

Her eyes slowly started to flutter open. "Sasuke? It hurts so bad."

"What? What hurts?"

"My wrist."

"Don't worry Sakura. I'm going to kill him!"

"No don't! Please don't!"

"It's okay, you're safe now. I'm calling the police."

Sasuke flipped open his cell phone and quickly dialed the phone number.

"Hello? We need someone here fast. I'm with a girl. Her wrist is broken. What? No, I didn't hurt her you idiot! A member of Akatsuki did! Get an ambulance here fast! We're at Konoha Leaf High School. Hurry!"

"Sasuke?"

"What is it Sakura?"

"Please don't go."

"You know I have to. I'll wait until someone comes to get you, but then I have to go after him."

"No, you don't."

"He'll pay for what he did to you!"

"Please Sasuke." Sakura closed her eyes and was out again.

It took about five minutes for the police to arrive. As soon as Sasuke had handed Sakura over to a paramedic he raced off toward the main building, disregarding the calls of the police behind him.

Sasuke ran up four flights of stairs to the top of the building. All he had was the feeling in the pit of his stomach guiding him. When he got to the top of the last flight of stairs, he noticed a small pocketknife sitting on the ground.

"Pick it up Sasuke. You know you want to."

Sasuke grabbed it and looked down the hallway. There was Itachi, standing in front of a large window, also holding a knife in his hand.

"The cops are down there, make one false move and they'll catch you."

"Not before you're dead," said Itachi coolly.

Sasuke let out a snarl. "I don't care anymore! I _will _kill you!"

"Then come get me little brother."

Sasuke knew rushing Itachi would end in him being promptly stabbed. He'd tried that tactic in the past and it only failed him. He cautiously walked down the long hallway. He stopped halfway, briefly using the drinking fountain. The corners of Itachi's mouth pulled into a small smile before he reconstructed his face into a mask of indifference.

"I can see why you like her Sasuke."

"Shut up. Don't say another word."

"She has the softest pink hair, have you touched it yet?"

"SHUT UP!"

"Her eyes, those beautiful emerald eyes. They really sparkle when she's afraid. I like that."

Although he knew Itachi was trying to make him lose control, it was becoming increasingly difficult for Sasuke to not throw all caution to the wind.

"I bet her lips are soft too. I would have found out for myself, but then what kind of brother would I be?"

Sasuke continued to inch forward toward Itachi. When he was a few feet away from him, he decided to make the first move.

Itachi blocked Sasuke's jab with his knife, took Sasuke's shoulder, and hurled him to the floor.

Sasuke used his legs to swipe at Itachi, followed by his blade.

Itachi backed up, giving Sasuke a moment to get back on his feet.

"You've learned a few things. Good."

"You're sick," spat Sasuke.

This time, Sasuke went for a slash toward Itachi's face, but saw what a stupid move it was because it left him completely open.

Itachi brought down his knife and cut a deep gash across Sasuke's right shoulder.

Slightly stunned, Sasuke staggered backward. He felt the blood slide down his arm.

"Bastard."

"You know as well as I do that I had a father Sasuke."

"Yeah but now he's dead."

"Are you going to stand there and talk or fight?"

Sasuke ran toward Itachi again, who took advantage of his weak shoulder and gave it a rough kick.

Sasuke yelped and fell once more.

Both looked up when they heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Great, now I have to deal with these fools," said Itachi.

The first officer that made it up the stairs looked down the hall and took out his gun.

"Make one more move and I will shoot." Two more officers took positions behind him.

"Oh really? I'd like to see you try," stated Itachi.

Sasuke started to stand up.

"You too son! Stay on the ground. Nobody move. Just stay put or I will shoot," said the officer again. He started to walk forward.

Itachi looked down at Sasuke and genuinely smiled. It shocked him. "If only you knew Sasuke."

Sasuke couldn't believe what happened next. Itachi deliberately took another slash at him but there was no force behind it. Sasuke easily blocked his attack stabbed him in the shoulder. The police officer started to shoot, breaking the glass of the large window. Sasuke watched as Itachi fell backwards outside. He sat frozen on the ground. It was like a dream. The three policemen rushed to the window and looked down.

"That fall should have killed him! Where's his body?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. He shakily stood up and walked to the edge of the window. Looking down at the pavement, there was nothing but shards of glass and what looked like a few blood spatters where Itachi's body should have been.

"Impossible," he whispered.

Sasuke felt his phone vibrate in his jeans. He flipped it open and saw he had a text message.

**Sasuke, I'm at the hospital. I'm okay. Where are you?**

He closed the phone and looked down at the pavement where Itachi had fallen once more. _"Sakura, you're safe. That's all that really matters." _Sasuke's phone clattered to the floor as he sunk to his knees and blacked out.

_**

* * *

A/N: **_You won't have to wait a whole year for the next chapter, it's already written. The next chapter will be the **final** chapter of this story, so only one more to go. Thanks for following it all this time for those of you who've returned. I hope it wasn't disappointing. To my new readers, I hope you like it. I could have written this a while ago when I didn't really care, but it would have been terrible. I probably will stop fanfiction writing for a long while after this is over, who knows? By the way, please don't tell me "Itachi was out of character" unless you've read the Naruto manga. If you still believe so, well, that's a different story entirely. Thanks, I'd love to hear your comments after all this time. Flames will be extinguished by love and critique is always welcome.


	12. The Truth Comes Out

_**A/N:**_ I wasn't lying when I said this was done eight months ago. It was terribly written and I was going to post it so I wouldn't have to worry about the story anymore. I'm a fan of fanfics too and hate people dropping stories. I didn't want to leave mine hanging. I couldn't post it though. Too much time has been put into this to end it poorly. I wrote this story for my enjoyment and have no regrets. I'm glad so many of you cared about it. I didn't think that possible. It's been a long journey with a lot of harassing to finish, but ultimately I did it in my own time, just as I should have. Don't expect any sequels or much more from me in the Naruto world any time soon. My passion for the series has died a little bit with the downward turn I think it's taken, though you might see more of me in other fandoms, or the occasional Naruto one-shot. Flames will be extinguished by the love of my loyal readers. Never thought I'd get over 1,000 reviews. Thank you for everything and goodnight!

"_Thoughts_" "Speech" "**Writing**"

**_Disclaimer:_** You know the drill, enough already.

Chapter 12: The Truth Comes Out

Sasuke awoke to a bright white light. If he'd died from his wounds, it didn't matter. Sakura was okay. Risking his life to secure her safety was worth it. To his surprise, the bright light subsided and dimmed to reveal pristine white walls. Sasuke felt the fingertips of his left hand brush against a scratchy fabric. He froze when he realized his right hand felt warm and smooth. He turned his gaze to the right and met a pair of emerald green eyes. He looked from her eyes to her soft pink hair, and then back to her eyes again.

"Sasuke?"

He didn't answer. He just continued to stare into those eyes.

Sakura suppressed a giggle. "Sasuke, are you okay? What is it?"

Sasuke groaned. "You talk too much."

"Thanks. I've been told that multiple times. How are you feeling?"

Sasuke smirked. "Amazing, apart from the mind-numbing pain in my head and shoulder."

"You sound like you got yourself into a lot more trouble than I did."

"What?" Sasuke's eyes tightened when he caught sight of Sakura's arm in a cast. "Your wrist. Sakura I'm so sorry. God only knows if I killed the bastard. I hope he's dead."

"Don't say that Sasuke."

"Why not? It's the truth isn't it? All Itachi did was cause more pain. I wish I'd never met you!"

Sakura dropped Sasuke's hand. "Really? Do you really mean that?"

"Yes, I do."

As Sasuke looked away, Sakura took a deep breath, got up, and walked toward the door.

Realization dawned upon Sasuke. "No, wait Sakura. Come back."

Sakura choked back her tears. "Clearly you don't want me here."

"No, you don't understand. I didn't mean it that way."

"Then what could you possibly have meant?"

Sasuke struggled to sit up in bed, wincing from the pain pulsating through his shoulder. "Please, come back."

Sakura sighed and returned to the chair she'd been sitting in for hours. After they'd finished taking x-rays and putting on her cast, she waited in the hospital lounge for Sasuke to come in. She wasn't allowed into his room, but a nurse let her slip in after one look at her tired, tear-stained face. "I'm all the family he has," she'd told the nurse then. It wasn't a complete lie.

Sasuke took a glance at his bedside table where a pitcher of water, a glass, a pen, and a pad of paper lay. He had to tell her now. He owed it to her after all the trouble he'd caused. What better way to tell her than how it all began? "Sakura, can you hand me the pen and paper?"

"What? Why?"

"Just do it, please. Stop asking so many stupid questions."

"You used to like my stupid questions."

"_I still do,_" Sasuke thought to himself. He took the pen and paper from Sakura. The IV in his wrist was going to make it a little difficult to write anything, but he'd manage.

Sakura watched curiously as Sasuke slowly wrote on the paper. It must have been extremely painful for him to do so. Why couldn't he just tell her whatever it was he wanted to say? Didn't he just tell her he wished he'd never met her?

After a few long minutes, Sasuke put down the pen and handed Sakura the pad of paper. He met her eyes for a moment before dropping his hand and looking away.

**I need you Sakura. Please stay. I love you.**

Tears started to stream down Sakura's cheeks. She looked up at Sasuke who was now grinning.

"The only reason I said what I did was because if you'd never met me, you wouldn't have gotten hurt. I never wanted to do anything to hurt you Sakura. You've been the one thing that's made me happy in such a long time."

"Sasuke I... I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. I'd doubt you'd ever want to see me again after what happened."

"If that were true I wouldn't have sat here all night waiting for you to wake up."

A look of surprise crossed Sasuke's features. "You were here all night?"

"Of course I was."

"Why would you do that?"

Sakura laughed. "Sasuke! You can be so dense sometimes. Stop focusing on yourself."

"What are you talking about?"

"See, you are miserable and arrogant, just like I thought you were back in summer school."

"All right, I may be miserable, but I'm not arrogant. Just stubborn."

"_Kakashi-sensei was right about something for once._" Sakura smiled.

The corners of Sasuke's mouth turned downward. "What is it? Will you just get to the point already?"

Sakura took the pen from Sasuke's hand, brushing his fingers with hers as she did so. His cheeks flushed a light pink. As she began to write on the pad of paper, the door of the room was thrust open. Three police officers, a nurse, and a doctor hurried into the room.

"Nurse Shizune, what is that girl doing in here? I specifically ordered that Sasuke had no visitors."

Shizune's face turned white. "I'm so sorry Doctor Tsunade. I have no idea what she's doing in here."

As the group reached the foot of Sasuke's bed they came to a halt. Sakura sat as still as she could in the chair and Sasuke fixed an icy glare on the police chief standing before him. Officer Morina Ibiki was the head of ANBU, the special service squad of the Konoha police force. He was also lead interrogator and had never failed to receive the information he wanted from a prime suspect. The imposing scars across his face only enhanced the terror he could incite.

"Sasuke, we need to speak with you immediately. Alone," stated Ibiki.

"You must leave this instant. You may not return until visiting hours," Tsunade said to Sakura.

"Yes ma'am," Sakura said. As she stood up to leave, she slipped a piece of paper into Sasuke's hand.

He locked eyes with her before she walked away and shut the door. Sasuke returned to glaring at Ibiki.

"What is it you want? Can't you see I was busy?"

"That's no way to talk to an officer Sasuke. Apologize this instant," said Tsunade.

"Sorry," he spat out.

"Sasuke, we have some urgent news to discuss with you."

"So, discuss it."

Ibiki dismissed the two other officers that were with him. They went to wait outside the room.

"Shizune, you may leave," stated Tsunade.

"Yes doctor."

As soon as Shizune shut the door behind her, Ibiki began again. "ANBU reports have shown that Uchiha Itachi's body could not be found. However, he was still pronounced dead. His Akatsuki ring, signifying his membership to the gang, was found at the scene of the crime. We have taken it as evidence. We speculate he was not alone when the events of last night took place, and a fellow Akatsuki member must have retrieved his body. Now that one of their strongest members is dead, we hope that catching the other members will be easier. Maybe soon their crime ring will be eliminated and the remaining members will be brought to justice."

Sasuke stared blankly. "Are you stupid?"

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, are you stupid or just ignorant?"

Ibiki lowered his tone of voice. "How dare you speak to me that way you insolent brat?"

"Do you really think Itachi is dead? I'm sure he's alive somewhere right now, hurting other people."

"If he were alive, I'm sure you'd be dead by now."

"Maybe I should be."

"Enough. I will not be spoken to this way. We already did a search of your home. Nothing was found. A lawyer should pay you a visit within the next week with some legal documentation that concerns you. You are still a minor. Being that your brother was acting as your legal guardian and your parents are deceased, you may be put into foster care unless another law-abiding adult comes forward to take care of you. Any questions?"

"No. Now leave me alone."

Ibiki took one last look at Sasuke before silently walking to the door and exiting.

Tsunade let out a sigh. "Sasuke, you really need to have your attitude adjusted."

"What's it to you?"

"Never mind. Listen, I don't know what that girl was doing in here earlier, but she will not be allowed back in until proper visiting hours. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," said Sasuke through gritted teeth.

"Good. I'll send in Shizune with another round of painkillers. I bet that shoulder is really acting up. Hopefully you can get some more sleep."

Sasuke took on a bored tone. "When can I leave?"

"The day after tomorrow if you're lucky."

"Why can't I leave today?"

"We have to make sure your stitches look okay and that you won't faint trying to walk out of the door. You lost a lot of blood. Besides, someone has to take you home. You can't be by yourself in the state you're in."

Sasuke crunched the piece of paper under his fingers a bit. "_Maybe Sakura can get her parents to bring me to her house. I guess I can just call that loser Naruto. I'm sure his uncle wouldn't mind. Living with Neji would be a little awkward. His parents have so many rules._"

"Well Sasuke, I'll let you be now. You have a lot to think about. I'll be back in a couple of hours to see how things are. Remember what I said about visitors."

"I know. No one can come in until visiting hours. What is this, a prison? When can I get my phone call?"

Tsunade shook her head and mumbled something to herself as she left the room.

When the door closed, Sasuke quickly unfolded the piece of paper Sakura had given him. He read the message three times, not believing the words he saw. Satisfied, he set it on his bedside table and leaned back into his pillow. A huge smile spread across his face. It took him every ounce of will he had not to run out into the hall, find Sakura, and kiss her. "_There will be plenty of time for that later._"

Shizune came in shortly thereafter with a tray of pills. She went to set it on the bedside table but stopped short when she saw the paper lying there.

"I've always needed you Dark Flame and I love you more than you could possibly imagine. Who's Ms. S?"

"None of your business. Just give me the Vicodin already."

"You're so pushy."

"I'm not pushy. I'm just in agonizing pain." Even though he was being rude, Sasuke couldn't keep the smile out of his voice. "_I love you Sakura. I really do._"

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sakura stepped outside of Konoha General Hospital into the fresh air. She hadn't been outside for a while. It felt nice to have a cool breeze against her face. Sleeping upright in a chair hadn't been great for her back. She was in dire need of a massage. It was hard to process everything that had happened in such a short period of time. If breaking her wrist were all it took to get her the boy of her dreams, Sakura would have arranged a hit-and-run car accident ages ago.

She still couldn't fully comprehend Itachi's motives. He'd explained himself in a rather peculiar way, but maybe Sasuke really was better off without him. Sakura wouldn't question that subject further. What was done is done. How was she going to explain it to her parents though? It'd taken a lot of convincing on her part that she was completely fine and would be home soon. She wasn't sure if she were prepared for the onslaught of questions she'd know they'd hit her with. "_Where have you been? What happened to your wrist? Why were the police involved? Who's Sasuke? Oh yeah, that's definitely going to be a fun one to answer. He's only the most important person in the entire world._" Sakura paused her whirlwind of thoughts when she felt a vibration in her pocket. No one had texted her in hours. She looked at her phone and noticed it was a number she didn't recognize. "_That's weird. Solicitors don't send text messages._" Sakura flipped her phone open to read the message.

_**Thank you Sakura. For Sasuke. For everything. I'm sorry about your wrist. Goodbye.**_

Sakura's face paled. She snapped her phone shut and quickly scanned the area in front of the hospital. A nurse was pushing an old woman in a wheelchair. Two men were walking toward an ambulance with an empty stretcher. A husband carried a bag while his pregnant wife walked with her mother toward the entrance. A young man with long black hair sat on a bench, smoking a cigarette. Four women in scrubs headed to their cars on a lunch break. "_Wait, smoking is not allowed in this area!_" Sakura looked back to the bench near the hospital doors. The young man was gone. "_What? There's no way! It can't be him. I must be imagining things._" Sakura walked up to a security officer standing on the curb.

"Excuse me sir? Did you see someone smoking on that bench just now?"

"No miss. You know smoking his prohibited except for in the designated areas."

"Are you sure you didn't see someone just there?"

"I'm sure. I know how to do my job. If I'd seen anyone, they'd be in big trouble. Now run along now. I have things I need to do."

"_Sure, like standing around and trying to look important while doing nothing._" Sakura turned around and walked back toward the front doors of the hospital. It was noon and she hadn't eaten anything since lunch the previous day. Maybe she could grab a cheap sandwich in the lounge. She stopped when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Sakura turned around and gasped in shock.

"Hello Sakura."

"Kakashi-sensei! What are you doing here?"

"Well, in all honesty, I'm here to see Sasuke. I also have some news for him."

"Last time I saw him, he was speaking to the police. The doctor kicked me out of the room."

"Well, actually, the police are the reason I'm here. All the teachers were informed by mass email about what happened at the school last night. When I heard about Sasuke's involvement I decided that maybe I could help out."

"What are you going to do?"

"Sasuke needs someone to help take care of him for a while and I thought that I could do that for him."

"Wow, that's so nice of you. Is there any particular reason you're doing this?"

"Let's just say Sasuke and I have a history together."

"He never told me about that."

"I wouldn't expect him to. It's not something he'd really talk about. Itachi was one of my best students and I've always known how hard for Sasuke it has been to not only live in his shadow but to live with him as well."

"Okay. I was going to get a sandwich. Visiting hours aren't until later this afternoon. Would you like to come with me?"

"I'd love to Sakura."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o**

Sasuke had gone to sleep shortly after taking his medication. He woke up to the sound of a light rapping on his door. He sat up in bed to the best of his ability and brushed his fingers through his hair. "_I guess it's visiting hours already._"

"Come in."

Sakura poked her head through the door. "Are you awake Sasuke?"

"Yeah, it's fine."

Sakura walked into his room, followed by Kakashi.

"What are you doing here?" mumbled Sasuke.

"It's nice to see you too Sasuke," said Kakashi.

Sakura smiled and took her seat by Sasuke's bedside. "I thought you might get tired of listening to me talk so I brought someone else."

Sasuke took her hand. "I could never get tired of listening to you, even if you talked about hearts and flowers."

Kakashi coughed. "Am I interrupting something?" He sighed. "_Kids._"

Sasuke sent a glare in Kakashi's direction. "Yes. Leave."

"Well, I have something important to tell you Sasuke."

"Get on with it then."

"I'll be taking you home."

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What?"

Kakashi smiled. "I'm going to take care of you for a little while until you're back on your feet."

"Um, thanks... I guess." Sasuke was surprised. Kakashi had always looked out for him but he'd never expected this.

"I'll leave you two alone for a bit. See you later okay Sasuke?"

"Mhmm."

Sakura watched as Kakashi's silver hair disappeared behind the door. "Sasuke?"

"Yeah?" Sasuke smiled. It was great to see Sakura by his side. He hoped she'd never leave him.

"I have another stupid question."

"You know how much I've loved those. Is it another one about my favorite color? Because now I'm pretty sure it's pink."

Sakura blushed. "Are we, you know, together now?"

"If your asking me if I consider you my girlfriend I'd have to say yes, of course. Maybe those stupid girls will finally leave me alone. Now your friend can get really jealous."

Sakura frowned. "I'd hope she'd be happy for me. I've known her for so long. I don't want things to end badly."

Sasuke couldn't stand seeing Sakura upset. He squeezed her hand and their eyes met again. "Sakura," he whispered.

"Hm?"

He moved his hand from hers and tucked a strand of pink hair behind her ear. He cupped her cheek and slowly leaned forward, brushing his lips with her own. He pulled back and dropped his hand to clasp his fingers with hers once more. "Did you understand that message?" he whispered.

Sakura wiped away the few tears that had fallen from her eyes, smiled, and nodded. "I guess summer school was worth it after all. I'd sit through another whole summer with Kakashi as long as you were there with me."

"You mean you'd rather do that than spend the summer doing this?"

Sasuke leaned forward and kissed Sakura again. When he pulled away this time, she was slightly breathless."

Sakura giggled and leaned forward in her chair. A playful smile spread across her face as she leaned toward Sasuke's ear. She told him, "I guess you're right. That's a message I could never get tired of sending."

_**The End**_


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